A FORMER underground military complex near Kinver will be turned into a wine storage facility after the council's decision to reject the plans was overturned on appeal.

London City Bond (LCB)'s bid to develop the historic Drakelow Tunnels beneath Kingsford Country Park into a warehouse and distribution centre for 10,000 tonnes of wine was refused by Wyre Forest District Council's planning committee in September 2019.

Concerns were raised by committee members about the daily movements of heavy goods vehicles, the reduction of car parking on-site from 45 to 22 spaces, and the displacement of traffic onto surrounding roads.

LCB appealed the decision in November and, in January, the appeal was allowed.

Planning Inspector Adrian Hunter said the car parking provision was "adequate" as the company would be controlling parking through the implementation of a permit scheme.

A new museum will be built within the tunnels as part of the plans, which Mr Hunter said would provide social and economic benefits and also promote the site's history.

While agreeing that the plans "would constitute inappropriate development of the green belt", Mr Hunter said the economic and public benefits outweighed the harm.

A spokesman for the Say No to Tunnels Development Facebook group said they were surprised by the outcome of the appeal, and said Highways concerns "should have been listened to".

LCB declined to comment.

The Drakelow Tunnels network was built in the early 1940s as a shadow factory for the Rover car company, later forming part of a national network of highly classified nuclear bunkers.

In recent years, the tunnels have welcomed members of the public for regular open days, as well as paranormal tours which the News understands will now be stopped altogether.

Facebook group, Say YES to the Drakelow Tunnels Museum, posted: "The planning application appeal to turn most of the complex into a bonded warehouse for wine storage was approved, with a caveat that it retains an area for a museum to function during its lease, that being 25 years!

"The size we have been given is 19,000 square feet, which is smaller than we had hoped, but we are still looking forward at how we can make it into the best museum possible for people to still get a good experience when visiting.

"This has meant that we have had to move various items into our new allocated area. It does however mean that the remaining area of the complex will now be used as a bonded warehouse. So Paranormal, Airsoft and any other venue hire events are no more. The only spirits that will wander Drakelow now will be the bottled variety!

"When work starts underground to convert the site, it will also unfortunately put a stop on our tours beyond our museum limits.

"We have guided thousands of people round the tunnels over the last decade, bringing you further inside than ever before, giving you the freedom to wander on your own, taking pictures and exploring our underworld.

"We took you back in time, teaching young and old about our history and we have welcomed back those that once worked here.

"Our volunteers have put in thousands of hours to renovate the tunnels, we will be continuing to do so in the future and when restrictions are lifted we will start to accept new volunteers if you would like to join us in the renovations.

"This is not the end to Drakelow’s history, just a new chapter."

The announcement was met with mixed reactions from Drakelow Tunnels supporters. Many welcomed the news that museum plans had been secured, while several expressed disappointment that most of the site would be lost to wine storage.

Others mourned the loss of the famous paranormal tours, which had attracted ghost hunters from far and wide as the site regularly featured in lists of the most haunted places in Britain.