Wolverhampton industrial estate flats plan originally rejected wins approval
A move to convert an empty office block on an industrial estate into more than 70 flats that was rejected because it would overexpose tenants to ‘noise, dust and fumes’ has now been approved by the same council two years later.
City of Wolverhampton Council rejected a planning application to transform the Saturn Centre in Spring Road, Ettingshall, into 77 flats in 2023 saying it would expose future tenants to too much noise, dust and fumes from the surrounding factories.
However, the local authority’s planners have now backed the same plan after it was re-submitted earlier this year.
The applicant Crown Choice Investments had appealed the council’s 2023 decision but was rejected for a second time after the government’s planning inspectors agreed the block’s location would overexpose residents to grime and noise.
The four-storey office block and conference centre in Spring Road is surrounded by factories and commercial units including a steelworks, an asphalt quarry and manufacturers that work through the night.
When the first application was submitted in 2023, noise assessments found the level of noise along Spring Road and the surrounding area, day and night, meant windows would have to stay closed permanently to maintain an “acceptable” level of noise and prevent people from being disturbed.
In a report outlining the approval, the council said it now saw the plans as “acceptable” and noise and pollution problems could be solved by closing ‘super acoustic’ windows.
“The concerns raised by neighbouring business are the relationship of industrial premises and residential and parking,” the report said.
“The planning inspector on the appeal for the previous application found parking, and access to be acceptable. Therefore, this element is acceptable.
“The issues with respect to noise, an additional noise report has been undertaken, and satisfactory mitigation measures put in place, to protect future occupiers of the development.
“Should noise be a problem, windows can be closed as there would be a ‘Super Acoustic Insulation’ installed.
“This has been conditioned as part of the development and cannot be occupied until fitted. This should protect both the occupiers of the development and should not impact on the surrounding business.
“We are satisfied that the mitigation has satisfactorily addressed the concerns as raised with respect to noise and air.”
Rejecting the first application, the council’s planners said: “Due to the location of the site within an industrial area, the proposed residential development would be exposed to an unacceptable level of noise disturbance, dust and fumes associated with the surrounding uses.”
The council said there was nothing to mitigate against the level of exposure and was also concerned that building apartments could disrupt the surrounding and long-established businesses.
“This proposal could also have repercussions for the surrounding industrial uses, as they could be subjected to noise abatement notices which could prohibit their effective operation to the detriment of the economic development of the city,” the council’s planners said.
“The proposals would also likely result in restrictions to existing industrial occupier operations which would be detrimental to economic development.”
The council said the application would also need to include more parking spaces as it was an ‘unsustainable location’ – with hardly any access to public transport – and would rely more on cars.
The lack of management of the spaces could also create off-street parking problems in surrounding roads.
