DUDLEY College has apologised for installing heat pumps without planning permission which neighbours claim are noisy and bad for wildlife.

The issue was debated by Dudley Council’s planning committee on November 11 after the college applied for permission to install more pumps along with retrospective approval for seven air source units already installed.

Councillors were told the units were built on a section of the car park at the college’s Broadway campus and surrounded by a metal louvre enclosure and a four-metre high acoustic fence.

Councillor Karl Denning told the committee: “I have been contacted by a number of residents complaining about the low drum noise coming from the air source pumps, as I understand it that noise is only going to get worse when additional units are added.

“I worry they are going to impact wildlife, there is a bat run that runs from Castle Hill woods over Gervaise Drive, anybody who knows anything about bats knows they don’t like ambient noise especially coming from electric fans.”

Stephen Johnson, Dudley College’s estates director, explained the college had no choice but to start the installation before permission had been granted or risk losing funds for the project.

Mr Johnson said: “The college openly admits it has not followed the process, we are extremely apologetic for that – it is not our normal behaviour.

“The £2.5m project is substantially funded by the Department for Net Zero which had tight spending requirements and we had to spend the money by March 2025 which forced the college to progress the works.

“We have been working with the council to comply with all requirements to mitigate disruption to the environment and our neighbours.”

He added the noise mitigation instaled exceeded council  requirements and teaching rooms are next to the installation so the college needed to ensure there was no impact on students.

He also pointed out there had been other building work at the college and there had also been pumps running recently to deal with flooding at neighbouring Dudley Zoo.

A report from planning officers to the committee said: “The proposal and findings of the Noise Impact Assessment have been reviewed and accepted by the council’s Environmental Safety and Health team and have raised no objection to the proposal subject to conditions ensuring that the sound emissions are controlled and the mitigation measures are carried out and maintained for the life of the development.”

The report added there are no significant concerns in relation to ecology and officers recommended approval of the application.

Councillor Shaun Keasey said: “I’m astonished the college has decided to place this substantial equipment so close to residential properties when there are plenty of areas on the site nowhere near residential.

“I certainly wouldn’t be happy living anywhere near something that resembles the engine of a jumbo jet.”

Following further debate councillors agreed to grant the application with extra conditions that noise levels would be monitored and reports submitted to the council regularly over the next six months.