Move to build new estate on Cradley Heath industrial site rejected

Morro Partnerships had submitted plans to build 46 new homes for ‘affordable rent’ in Cradley Heath including a mix of one-to-four bed homes.

The move has been rejected by Sandwell Council’s planners who said the homes would be “incompatible” with the surrounding industrial estate.

A nearby business said approving the move would be like sounding a “death knell” for firms.

The council added that not enough information had been provided to ensure potential residents in the new homes would not be “significantly impacted” by the noise from nearby units.

In a report outlining the rejection, planners said the estate was “of poor design” and its layout ‘unacceptably dense.’

The “displaced and fragmented” parking would also lead to problems, planners added.

The site off Newlyn Road is currently home to TSM Pallets has long been earmarked for housing – and has been included in the authority’s plans as land for around 86 homes since 2012.

The pallet warehouse is part of an industrial estate that also borders a traveller site.

A statement included with the application claimed the site was “underutilised” which led to strong objections from nearby businesses.

One objector said they were “concerned and overwhelmed” by the move to build houses and it would add to the “already severe congestion” around Corngreaves Academy and limited space at nearby GP surgeries.

A disused petrol station opposite the pallet warehouse was sold at auction in 2023 and later converted into a hand car wash and tyre shop.

A planning application to build 139 new homes on the TKB Industrial Estate in Newlyn Road was approved in 2011 but the work was never carried out.