Specialist accommodation for children to be demolished for new housing in Wolverhampton
A residential unit providing specialist accommodation for children will be demolished to make way for new housing.
City of Wolverhampton Council has approved its own planning application to demolish the unit in Merridale Street West, Wolverhampton, to make way for eight ‘affordable’ maisonettes.
The two-storey residential home next to the Particular Ukrainian Catholic Church, which provided specialist accommodation for four children, was built on the corner of Merridale Street West and Zoar Street in 2011.
Outlining the decision, the council’s planners said: “The development would create good quality homes at this site and would be a significant investment.
“It is unfortunate that the relatively modern building would be demolished, however, the approved scheme would double the number of units available here, being a more effective use for this site.”
The council had originally planned to convert the accommodation into housing but has now decided to demolish the building and build new maisonettes.
The new plans, which also include eight parking spaces, would “make better use of the site” according to the council’s application as well as provide better security.
The previous plan to convert the building into four units would come with “significant” building costs to meet regulations compared to demolishing and building eight new units.
A statement included with the application said: “When assessing the development site, there were initial proposals drawn up by BM3 Architects for the retention and conversion of the existing building.
“The proposals at the time sought to convert the building to provide four two-bedroom apartments, effectively trying to utilize the existing internal space.
“Following a site visit with councillors in early 2025, it was evident that the proposals provided some uncertainty in terms of costs and timescales.
“The layout of each proposed apartment was designed to ‘fit’ the space, as opposed to being tailored to residents’ needs.
“Following further assessments and discussions, it became clear that there was an obvious benefit to the demolition of the existing building and the construction of purpose built maisonette units.”
City of Wolverhampton Council approved plans to demolish a row of garages on the opposite side of Zoar Street to make way for 12 new flats in September.
The council submitted an application to demolish the 36 garages more than a year earlier and terminated leases with the garage owners to allow for the three-storey block of flats to be built.
