Controversial £45m warehouse approved for Wolverhampton - despite congestion fears

The proposed distribution centre would be built on green space off Neachells Lane on the edge of Wolverhampton after being backed by the City of Wolverhampton Council’s planning committee on Tuesday (March 25).

The £45m plan also includes offices, more than 300 parking spaces and 60 lorry parking bays and a new entrance for lorries and cars off the busy and often congested Neachells Lane.

At the meeting, Cllr Louise Miles, who represents the East Park ward, spoke against the plan saying the vast majority of contact from residents had been negative.

“The land in question is very important to residents as the main green space on that side of Willenhall Road.

“Green space is of particular value when it is limited even though it may seem insignificant to others.”

She said there were “major concerns” about traffic and congestion which was “already a nightmare.

“The turning into the development is awkwardly placed and the development itself is very, very close to housing.”

Cllr Lovinyer Daley, who also represents East Park and sits on the planning committee, said the area was “utilised regardless of however else anyone wants to look at it” and could not understand the conclusion that it would not add to traffic problems.

“Seriously, there is no doubt going to be an impact there,” she said. “Using that space myself, it is a nightmare road. Even with the updates it is going to be a nightmare road because the whole road is an industrial space.

“I get the benefits as a whole but the traffic and the access to the site is of a real, real, major concern.”

Cllr Alan Butt said the green space was “not usable” and “you would risk your life going through it.” He said the warehouse would be turning “useless land” into “something the city could be proud of.”

“Whether it’s 300 jobs, 500 jobs, who can say at this stage but it is certainly going to be substantial for the residents in this city,” he added.

The 31-acre site is bordered by St Matthias School’s playing fields, a railway line and the Strawberry Lane Industrial Site and Neachells Lane opposite the Travis Perkins builders yard.

The former coal mine was later used as a landfill site and then ‘reclaimed’ in the 1990s as public open space.

Ahead of the meeting, the council’s planning officers had recommended the application should be approved

The council added that there was in fact a “surplus” of open space in the Bilston area and “alternative uses that make better use of the land to provide resources for investment should be utilised.”

The site is designated as a site of local importance for nature conservation and was included as part of an ‘urban forest’ project across the Black Country in the early 2000s designed to increase urban tree planting and create more woodlands for public use.

The application said that just under half of the site would remain as ‘open’ space but some objectors said the remaining green space would be “minimal” and “practically unusable.”

A handful of objections were submitted against the plans with concerns over the loss of green space and increase in congestion and collisions.

The objections also raised questions over whether a huge distribution centre could be built elsewhere given the number of empty and dilapidated warehouses off Willenhall Road and in the surrounding area.

There were also concerns about the “huge and out of character” warehouse being seen over trees and overshadowing homes and gardens and the “cherished” green spaces which was home to many mature trees and wildlife including foxes, badgers, bats, shrews, and voles would be lost forever.

The nearby St Matthias School also raised concerns saying it would lead to an increase in noise – especially in the summer during exams – and the community would lose its only green space.

The same report says that to account for the loss of the green space, a legal agreement will be entered that sees £150,000 provided for a new children’s play area in Stowlawn and £550,000 for East Park.

Dominic Goold, founder and managing director of Goold Estates, said the new £45m warehouse had been “years in the making” and would bring “significant economic benefits” including 500 new jobs.

Mr Goold said East Park and Wolverhampton had the worst youth unemployment rate in the country. “This kind of opportunity is badly needed here,” he added.

The application was approved by seven votes to four.