Latest news with #CarlMellor
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
New homes refused but car workshop gets green light
An application for seven new homes in Dudley which had been approved in principle has been rejected by council planners. The plan, to demolish a garage workshop and build a new apartment block on Phoenix Passage, was given outline permission 2022. Dudley planners however were not impressed by the proposed design of the new building and also had concerns about highway safety. A report from council officers on the plan said: 'This full application proposes development on three floors with one flat at ground floor and three to each the first and second floors. 'The building is generally T-shaped with garage parking under the building providing two off-road parking spaces. 'A further concern is that at ground floor level there is no active frontage with garage doors and a section of blank brickwork dominating.' In refusing the application, planners also raised concerns about parking provision and how vehicles would leave the site. Dudley head of planning, Carl Mellor, said: 'Whilst the proposed development shows the provision of two garage parking spaces for the development, it is noted that neither of these garages are to be provided in accordance with the council's adopted car parking standards and such would be unusable by the majority of cars. 'Moreover, the submitted tracking information which is not scaled fails to demonstrate that cars can successfully reverse out of the garages in a safe and convenient manner.' Planners have granted permission for conversion of Russells Hall Neighbourhood Centre to a car facelift workshop with a single storey side extension. In their report on the proposal for the Overfield Road building, planning officers said: 'The proposed development would provide job opportunities within the area and ensure the building is in a viable and suitable use. 'There would be no detrimental impact to amenity and there is sufficient car parking and no expected highways implications.'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dudley Council rushed local plan 'to avoid new rules'
A tough examination of Dudley Council's plans for borough development started with claims it was rushed to avoid new regulations. Government planning inspector Louise Nurser will hold six days of hearings throughout June to assess the Dudley Local Plan. During the first session at Dudley Council House on June 10, the inspector told participants representing the council, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust and the construction industry, she could either approve the plan, reject it but say it could be improved or throw it out completely. READ MORE: 'Disruption' warning as key short cut near M6 closed until Autumn READ MORE: The killer Midlands gang members who brought violence and death to our streets Read more: Dudley 'has enough brown field land' for building as local plan hearings start Read more: See which Midland council is set to approve felling dangerous trees She added: "I am here to examine the plan on behalf of the secretary of state to make sure it is sound and legally compliant, I am not here to make it better." Carl Mellor, Dudley Council's head of planning, told the inspector the plan was supported by robust evidence. He said: "The new local plan builds on adopted policies and plans and provides sustainable development and protects the borough's natural and historic environment. "The plan provides a sound and positive strategy for the borough." Discussion on the plan will be split into separate sessions to delve into the details and how it was formulated first on the agenda. In their submission to the hearing, planning consultants Lichfields on behalf of developer Taylor Wimpey pointed out the plan was prepared under rules which have been superseded. The consultant says under the new framework, Dudley's plan which promises 10,470 new homes, is 13,821 homes short of what will be needed. Developers complained Dudley rushed the plan through using a framework which allowed them to avoid including greenbelt to provide land for the extra homes. Don't miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here Myles Wild-Smith, from Lichfields, said: "It was a politically motivated push to get it over the line, the plan will not last a year before it is undermined by appeal or speculative applications." Peter Goatley KC, for Dudley Council, told the hearing the framework used for the plan meant it was not necessary to release greenbelt land and the council intended to protect it.
