A RAFT of objections have been lodged with council planners following the submission of a new plan to demolish a landmark Norton pub and replace it with a large care home.
Frontier Estates has submitted a second bid for planning permission to build a new state-of-the-art care facility on the site of The Greyhound pub on Norton Road.
An earlier proposal to demolish the pub and replace it with a 55-bed home was rejected by Dudley Council’s planning committee last July after hundreds of people objected - branding it "totally out of character”.
The developers appealed to the Planning Inspectorate at Bristol over the refusal and a decision is still awaited but meanwhile a revised proposal for the site has now been submitted to council planners.
Frontier Estates have proposed a 52-bed home this time – with ensuite bedrooms and communal facilities with lounges, dining rooms, terraces, hair salon, cinema, café, garden space and 20 parking spaces – which they say would create a much-needed facility for the elderly.
Objections to the amended scheme, however, have begun rolling in.
A resident in Norton Road said: "Reducing the number of rooms merely by three will make no difference to the impact on the issues which need to be addressed.
"The plans still do not take into account the lack of on-site parking for staff/visitors/emergency services etc and its impact upon the adjacent very busy roundabout and major road between Stourbridge and Kidderminster which would add to congestion and safety risks.
"The development is still completely out of scale to the available land and is not in keeping with the largely urban nature of the locality and also with no consideration to local residents or the negative impact on a predominantly residential area.”
Another objector described the proposed design as too large for the plot, with little outdoor space and inadequate parking and said the pub remains an important community facility as the last public house on Norton Road, although pub company Marstons says it is no longer financially viable - a report states.
A resident in Sandy Lane said the proposed home would be a "massive overdevelopment” of the site and described the proposed parking as ‘woefully inadequate” and likely to create distress for residents in surrounding streets as visitors and staff would inevitably end up parking off site.
West Midlands Police has also declined to support the proposal due to concerns about security and fears it would increase vehicle crime and demand on police services.
A spokesperson for Gillings Planning, acting for Frontier Estates, said the new application is for a somewhat smaller development and it “proposes a further reduction to 52-bedrooms and includes changes to the design to respond to comments from members”.
She added: “This proposal, if approved, would re-use this previously developed site within the built-up area of Norton, Stourbridge, to deliver much-needed care accommodation for the elderly with the capability of delivering both nursing and residential care on site. This will include the provision of dementia-specific care for individuals who need it.
“It will provide high quality, ensuite accommodation which exceeds Care Quality Commission standards and will be run by Barchester Healthcare, a highly experienced national care home operator.
“We look forward to working with the council, local members and local residents during the course of the planning application.”
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