Fresh bid to convert industrial estate offices into new flats
City of Wolverhampton 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.
The applicant Crown Choice Investments then appealed to the government's planning inspectors in a bid to get the decision overturned but was rejected for a second time.
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The government planning inspector agreed with the council that the 77 flats would overexpose residents to grime and noise.
Despite the rejection, a new planning application by Crown Choice Investments has again been submitted to City of Wolverhampton Council asking for permission to convert the five-storey office building into 77 flats.
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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.
The five-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.
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Rejecting the application last year, 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.
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