Plans for £45m warehouse on green space approved

Plans for a £45m warehouse on green space next to a Wolverhampton school have been approved by city councillors.

There will also be offices, more than 300 parking spaces, 60 lorry parking bays and a new entrance for lorries and cars at the site off Neachells Lane.

A number of councillors raised concerns about the impact on traffic and the loss of green areas.

But a report prepared by City of Wolverhampton Council officers said there was a "surplus" of open space in the Bilston area and the former landfill site could be put to better use.

Dominic Goold, founder and managing director of Goold Estates, said the plans had been "years in the making" and would bring "significant economic benefits" including 500 new jobs.

He also said East Park and Wolverhampton had the worst youth unemployment rate in the country and concluded "this kind of opportunity is badly needed here".

The 31-acre (12.5 hectare) area had once been the site of a coal mine and after that a landfill site, which was reclaimed in the 1990s as a public open space.

It is bordered by St Matthias School's playing fields, a railway line and the Strawberry Lane Industrial Site and Neachells Lane.

The school had raised concerns about noise from the warehouse, especially in the summer, during exams.

The plans stated half the site would remain open space and there was a promise by the applicant to pay £150,000 for a new children's play area in Stowlawn and £550,000 for East Park.

The application was approved by seven votes to four.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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