Plan submitted for 75 new city centre flats in Wolverhampton

Waterloo Court is a six-storey office building on Waterloo Road close to the Molineux football stadium.

Wolverhampton Council planners are now set to rule on proposals to convert the block into 75 new flats.

The application, from Charles Jordan Waterloo Court Ltd, is for a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments with basement parking for 71 cars.

Also near the town centre, council planners have rejected a request for retrospective permission for a 24-hour car park on the former Network House site in School Street.

Applicants Hubble Architecture Ltd said: “The delivery of the scheme has many positive outcomes and will provide many benefits by bringing back into use the unused land which is currently detrimental to the area.

“The proposals will help to support the existing business by providing an economic alternative for parking which will encourage shoppers to visit the area and spend money in the local shops.”

Permission to demolish Network House was granted in 2014 and later the authority approved an application to build a new block to provide 113 new homes.

Construction has never taken place but Wolverhampton council concluded there was no reason to remove the option for more city centre homes.

In throwing out the parking application, planning officer Ragbir Sahota said: “The proposal does not promote sustainable development and discourages redevelopment of The Westside Quarter, the largest single development and regeneration area within the city centre.

“Planning permission has been given for the demolition of the building and erection of a six storey building comprising 113 dwellings.

“This scheme made the most efficient use of land and the best design solution to a comprehensive and high-density approach that integrates with existing street patterns and creates new spaces, routes and views which take reference from and enhance the historic characteristics of the wider city area.”