Affordable housing plans scaled back

The number of new homes planned for a former primary school and training centre in Wolverhampton has been cut by more than a third.

City of Wolverhampton Council has awarded a near £3m contract to fill mineshafts and clear up the site of the old Loxdale Primary School in Bilston and Stowheath Day Training Centre in East Park.

Plans for 150 affordable homes on the two sites have been reduced to 89, with the final figure subject to planning approval.

The changes to the proposals for the brownfield sites followed detailed investigations showing the full extent of the ground conditions, the council said.

"We have been advised by the proposed developer they will need to reduce the number of homes to meet planning requirements and make delivery of the schemes viable," a spokesperson said.

The most important thing was to bring the land back into use for much-needed housing, they added.

The nine-month contract states the mineshaft treatment and remediation work is due to start in September.

City of Wolverhampton Council announced in November it had been awarded £1.4m in government funding to help prepare the two sites for new homes.

This news has been gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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