APARTMENT DEVELOPMENT TO BOOST INVESTMENT

A proposed residential development on an under-used car park at a Brierley Hill shopping centre will help to breathe life into the area and create new jobs.

Evolve Estates is seeking planning permission to build 39 apartments and maisonettes at the Moor Centre on part of the existing car park, with a view to helping kickstart much-needed further regeneration in the town

Matthew Pegg, asset manager at LCP (London & Cambridge Properties Ltd), which manages the centre, said the planned scheme would invigorate an area that has historically struggled to attract new retailers and would act as a catalyst for further investment.

It would also provide local jobs within the construction sector and supply chain.

“Dudley needs affordable housing in particular and we are confident that this sustainable town centre development will provide not only a social need but also create benefits for local residents, businesses and shops, whilst utilising a brownfield site” he said.

“We believe it will act as a catalyst for further redevelopment within the town centre, which has long been regarded as in need of investment, and we believe that it will be an active street screen, creating a safe and attractive environment in an area that can suffer from antisocial behaviour during non-operational hours.”

A planning application has been submitted to Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council for the homes, to comprise one, two and three bedroom homes with dedicated car parking spaces at the front of the development.

The scheme will reduce the number of car parking spaces at the shopping centre from 169 to 60, but independent analysis demonstrated that will be sufficient for the number of drivers who use the car park. Even following the introduction of free car parking in December last year, the car park has spare capacity with spaces remaining empty during peak hours.

Mr Pegg also stressed that any building would be sympathetic to the architecture of the local area.

“We wanted to take design elements from the surrounding Victorian villas architecture and echo that in the planned development,” he said.