Over the last two nights the City Council has been consulting with invited residents to discuss the plans and proposals for the site of the former Danesmore School site in Russell Close Ashmore Park. Your Wednesfield North Councillors have been present to hear the presentation and to hear the response from residents. These two meetings that kick off the consultation were by invitation to the residents affected by the immediacy of their present homes to the site up for discussion. This is how the invitations were made. Direct Mail to local residents in the vicinity of the proposed development .
- Street covered are
- Russell Close
- Acorn Road #
- Coppice Close
- Perks Road
- Ferguson Street
- Barnard Road
Timelines for Delivery
The intended timeline for Danesmore is as follows:
- Community Briefing – June
- Seek Outline Planning Consent – June / July 2015
- Tender process with selection of preferred Developer August – December 15
- Legal completion December – March 2016
- Developer work up scheme April – September 2016
- Anticipated start of the development October 2016
Future Use The City plan to use the site for a mixed development of –
- Private and affordable housing – Affordable housing at 25% – likely number of units circa 52 made up of 2 /3/ 4 bedroom houses
- Affordable housing will include – 2 x 1 bed flats , 3 x2 bedroom bungalows , 6 x2 Bed houses
Benefits to the proposal
- Generate employment for the area
- Provide for apprenticeships and skills training through expansion of the local economy
- Generate revenue for the Council to be able to redirect into frontline services
- Provide affordable housing for older people and local people
- Potential for assistance though the Right to Buy Scheme for local people
- A contribution towards improvements within Ashmore Park
The consultation explored an Indicative Layout in principle
- Indicative layout shown as a guide
- Access is via 3 access points , Russell Close , Coppice Close and Perks Road
- There is no vehicular access through the site from Russel l Close to Perks Road , only pedestrian and cycles .
Additional Information
- The contribution from the developer for open space will be allocated to improvements with in Ashmore Park itself – £100K
- The path that links Ferguson Street to Russell Close will be closed off , access from Russell Close to the park will remain .
Process / Time line for delivery
- Late June 2015 – Wolverhampton City Council to submit an outline application to the Local Planning Authority for residential housing in principle
- August 2015 – WCC out to tender to seek a suitable developer to build out the site
- December 2015 – March 16 – Successful tenderer determined and sale of the land completed
- April – August 2016 -Developer works up his layout working with the Local Planning Authority to gain full approval for the development
- September 2016 Developer progresses with the redevelopment of the site
The two meetings attracted a lot of attention, and the comments made by residents were taken down by officials.
The three Councillors present agreed to follow through and speak with the officials about the outcome of the meetings with a view to coming back and sharing with residents any changes to either plans or proposals following this series of meetings.
It was expressed that this was not the end of the consultation, but merely the beginning of the work around the proposals.
With regard to the actual comments made at the meeting a lot of the comments revolved around the access to the proposed site and the problems that this would likely bring to residents living in Russell Close, Perks Road and Coppice Close.
Residents also raised concerns about Wildlife, and habitat on the site. It was announced that a Phase 1 wildlife survey had been already carried out by the City Council, and that the site did not carry any listing of Scientific Interest. There were some trees alog the site perimeter that were of some interest and a TPO was being examined to protect these specimens.
It was agreed that a ‘site walk’ take place with residents to view the habitat and that this takes place with officials. Other issues raised were of personal security during construction, and after. Also some home owners also raised their concern that the development would affect the value of their own homes.
All three of your Councillors pleged to continue to liase with City Officials about the site and do our best to keep the information flowing through both the planning process and after through the construction process as well!
Information can be viewed through www.philbateman.com and Facebook pages. Also the City will provide information through its normal processes and the Editoral Team at WV11 also indicated their interest in setting out the scene and reporting on the response.
Please contact your local Councillors if you have any queries about this new development.