Approval for flats above entry to old mineshaft

Flats will be built on an overgrown town centre plot that has sat idle for almost two decades.

A planning application to build eight two-bed flats in Pipes Meadow, Bilston, has been backed by City of Wolverhampton Council.

The properties would be erected between the town's former Royal Mail sorting office and the busy Black Country Route.

Planners previously approved an application for flats in 2021 despite "fundamental concerns" from the Coal Authority over the presence of mines underneath the proposed flats.

Those plans, by developer Billy Singh, expired because no work was carried out.

The new building would need reinforced foundations and to be built as far away from the mineshaft as possible.

A report outlining the council's approval said the vacant site does not make a positive contribution to the area due to its poor physical condition.

"The proposed redevelopment of this space for residential use would provide additional housing in this centre location [and] improve the visual appearance of this area," it read.

Most of the buildings behind the former sorting office were demolished in 2005 and 2006 to allow for work to be carried out to cap the mines below but have been left to rot.

The overgrown site has now been an eyesore for nearly 20 years, as well as a hot spot for fly-tipping.

The sorting office has since become a second-hand car dealership

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

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