More than 50 shipping containers to be placed next to estate but 24-hour storage plans scuppered
More than 50 shipping containers will be placed next to a Black Country housing estate after plans for a new storage facility were approved.
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The move will see 53 metal shipping containers installed opposite the Diamon Bus depot off Tipton Road in Tividale after the plans were granted temporary two-year permission by Sandwell Council.
However, plans for the facility to be open 24 hours a day raised concerns and were eventually restricted at the request of the council's public health department.
Under the approval, the opening hours are now restricted to 7am to 7pm on weekdays and 9am to 3pm and 12pm to 2pm every Saturday and Sunday.
The former NHS labs and offices on the corner of Tipton Road and John’s Lane/Temple Way have been empty for nearly a decade with part of the land only recently used as a car park by the Midlands bus company.
The land was home to SGS House, a pharmaceutical testing facility and NHS laboratory, before closing in 2008. The site has been vacant since 2015 and the majority of the empty former NHS offices were demolished in 2020. Sandwell Council approved a planning application for the land to be used by Diamond as a bus park and bus wash.
The site is currently used as a car park for Diamond’s parent company Rotala as an extended car park for its Tipton Road headquarters.
A four-metre high green fence was installed around the bus depot car park two years ago in order to protect neighbours from noise and disturbance.
A planning statement included with the application said the storage facility would bring “no adverse impacts” and more than 50 shipping containers could be placed “without impacting on the amenities of neighbouring occupiers".
“The primary concern with this proposal is the potential for noise and general nuisance caused to nearby residents,” the statement said. “However, consideration should be given to the existing large industrial building, and the four-metre-high acoustic barrier to Temple Way previously installed to the boundary with the residential dwellings.
“It is considered that the noise impact of this development would be relatively minor by comparison to the approved bus depot use.
“The proposed containers would be 2.6 metre high which is considerably lower than any of the neighbouring buildings. The proposal will not result in overlooking or overshadowing of any neighboring properties.
“Currently there is no prospect of the site coming forward as a residential or employment site without significant capital investment rendering the site currently unviable.”
