Shropshire Star

Retirement home plan for site of former pub that closed 15 years ago gets green light

A former pub will be redeveloped as a retirement living scheme after the plans were approved.

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The team from Build55 Living and its contractors who are behind the project.

Telford & Wrekin Council, development company Build Fifty5 Living, and its contractors have welcomed the decision for the sie of the former Dun Cow pub site in Dawley.

The pub closed in 2008 and has been derelict ever since.

Planners have now given the green light for the site to be transformed into a flagship socially affordable retirement living scheme by the Telford-based project management and development company.

The complex will offer living accommodation for residents as well as indoor and outdoor amenities for their own enjoyment.

The Dun Cow in 2009 after it closed

It is being built over two floors with car parking spaces and landscaped gardens with courtyard.

The new building, with views of The Wrekin, accommodates retired residents at the heart of the community next to the high street of Dawley.

Kieran Danby, director of BuildFifty5 Living says: “This is a really exciting time for all of us involved in the new Duce Drive development as we see planning permission granted for a complex that will not only benefit the local community, but also bring jobs into the area too.

“It’s been a long time coming for a piece of land which has been derelict for so many years, and which has seen previous developers turned down.

“With Duce Drive, we have worked closely with the local authority to agree what could be done with this location and very much identified the needs and wants of the local area.

“This is a crucial part in how we dare to be different in our approach to sourcing and securing challenging locations and transforming them in places which we know will benefit local towns and villages.”

The overgrown site that once housed the pub in 2020

Councillor Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, Enforcement and Transport said: “We are really pleased to see the planning milestone achieved for this site which has been derelict for 15 years.

“We are excited to see this project start to take shape now and this retirement facility is all part of our commitment to create new and affordable homes for our residents across the borough.

"Once complete this will be a fantastic place to live for retired members of the community and the development will also bring a large site back into use.”

Construction work on the development will start later this year.