Huge Bilston Urban Village homes plan given backing

The huge Bilston Urban Village scheme is set to be given to go-ahead by councillors next week after being recommended for approval by experts.

It brings the major development, which will change the face of the area to the south of the city, a step nearer.

Bilston Urban Village has been in the pipeline for years and now looks set to pass the final hurdle, clearing the way for a total of 420 homes to be built near the Black Country Route.

It is hoped the hundreds of homes on the sprawling 30-acre site hugging the dual carriageway will help ease demand for places around the city. Nearly 200 of the homes will be available to buy, while the rest will be rented out.

Councillors are due to make a final decision on the scheme on Tuesday and have been advised by council planning officers to approve the plan.

Developer Countryside has agreed to help pay for the relocation of Loxdale Primary School, which is right next to the site, to a new purpose-built building at off Dudley Street.

Planners say they are not concerned about added pressure on school and doctors' places as there will be enough as the Ormiston Academy was only recently built in 2012, while residents will be able to use Bilston Urban Village Medical Centre.

Wolverhampton councillor Milkinder Jaspal said the hundreds of new homes were badly needed in the city.

He said: "I am really behind this because we need the homes, so this is to be welcomed. We have got around 8,000 people on the waiting list and the development and regeneration is a positive thing."

Councillor Jaspal said: "We have got to get the infrastructure right. When we create new areas we don't always look to the future. We need to look at making the roads wider and creating more parking spaces on gardens."

A planning report to go before councillors said: "This is an allocated housing site so residential development is acceptable in principle. The design would be acceptable, and the development would enhance the conservation area."