Sainsbury‘s were today awarded planning permission to extend their store in Rookery Street Wednesfield, despite objections from local a historian. 80 extra jobs are set to be created but a local heritage building will be demolished to make way for a car park extension.

The new 21,600 sq feet extension which is set to include a new restaurant and bakery, as well as 74 new parking spaces has been given the go ahead by planners, but will see a 19th Century heritage building demolished.

The Temperance Hall opposite Sainsbury’s dates back to the 1860s and was used by the Salvation Army before becoming a theatre and cinema, going by the name of the Tivoli.

Wednesfield Historian Ray Fellows wrote to Prince Charles concerning the plans to demolish the hall and also put forward his objections to planners.

Ray called upon the Sainsbury’s to drop their proposals to demolish the hall saying “Wednesfield as a community has suffered more than most Black Country towns from the loss of it’s ancient heritage. Delivering an innovative planning proposal which incorporates a use for the building just as Sainsbury’s did at the former St. Georges Church in Wolverhampton City Centre would be applauded.“

Mr Fellows asked Sainsbury’s whether it was possible to use the building in some way, but the company wish to demolish the hall in order to extend their car park to include a total of 472 spaces, including 29 disabled spaces and 20 parent and child spaces, an increase of 74 spaces. Motorcycle and cycle parking is also proposed.

Planners at Wolverhampton City Council ruled that although the hall was a heritage asset to Wednesfield, it was not deemed significant enough to deny Sainsbury’s proposals to demolish it.

Duncan Nimmo, Treasurer of the Wolverhampton Civic and Historical Society added, “The problem is that it is not reasonable to try to preserve every bit of heritage; that would mean stagnation, and preventing new things which may become the heritage of the future.

“What is necessary is to strike the right balance between preservation and demolition. At least now this is formally recognised in the planning process, with developers required to assess any heritage damage and to justify it in terms of the benefits brought by their proposals.“

The car park extension requires the demolition of a nearby builders yard and the former Temperance Hall, with Hall Street being extinguished and incorporated into the car park.

The existing petrol station is also set to be demolished and relocated to allow for the extension of the supermarket building. The silver-lining is that extension will bring 80 new jobs to the area.

Do you think supermarkets should be allowed to demolish heritage buildings in order to increase profits? Or should planners make more effort to incorporate our history into buildings of the future? Let us know in the comments!

In related news, rumour has it that an ASDA Living store may be coming to Bentley Bridge.

Photo: Sainsbury’s

Demolition began this week at the former Danesmore Park Primary School site in  Ashmore Park, Wednesfield.

The school in Russell Close has been closed since December 2007 and was the victim of a major arson attack in October 2010, resulting in a large section of the roof being declared unsafe. Since then the perimeter has been secured and demolition experts moved in to begin clearing the site on Monday 21st February, 2011.

A Wolverhampton City Council spokesperson said:

“The demolition contract for Danesmore School commenced on Monday (Feb 21) and is due to completed by May 2011. The site will be left secure, clear and free of all buildings.

“The site of the school building and the adjoining site of the former Coppice Close Community Centre have been declared surplus to the requirements of the council and will be marketed for sale as a complete site in due course.”

This brings to a close the long-running controversy around the closure of the primary school (the only one in Ashmore Park with it’s own swimming pool and a dedicated Special Educational Needs unit) and hopefully the clearing of the derelict site will mean it no longer attracts anti-social behaviour.

Photo: Google Maps

The new eco- friendly building will be built using natural materials and include a “natural retaliation systems to allow internal temperature control and special insulation will be used to help eliminate heat wastage in the cold weather.”

A new multi-use games area and playground will be included in the redevelopment and the new school will accommodate 420 students.

While this is good news for Oak Meadow these plans come just 3 years since the council closed Danesmore Park Primary due to falling numbers.

The former Danesmore building now stands derelict and a target for anti social behaviour at the top end of the Ashmore Park estate much to the disappointment of former pupils, parents and local residents, despite assurances from Wolverhampton City Council during the consultation period that this would not be allowed to happen.

So do we really need to build a whole new school when a building stands empty and with presumably less funds than are being spent on an entire rebuilding of Oak Meadow, both it and the former Danesmore site could be bought back up to the standard  fit for the purpose of teaching?

According to a recent planning application, there are plans to open a Nando’s restaurant at Bentley Bridge.

One of three applications for Unit 4b seeks permission for a “Internally illuminated ‘Nandos’ fascia sign, two internally fluorescent illuminated menuboxes and one cockerel logo to be burnt into 150mm thick reclaimed oak boarding panel”…so it looks like Nando’s Portuguese, flame-grilled PERi-PERi Chicken is on the way to Wednesfield!

Whilst there is seemingly no official news on what the City Council proposes to do with the pupils of Oak Meadow Primary whilst a construction project of this scale takes places, WV11 suggests that they could perhaps use the Danesmore Park Primary School site in Russell Close, Ashmore Park, which they closed in December 2007?

This site currently stands derelict and vandalised despite promises by councillors throughout the consultation period that this would not be allowed to happen if the school were to close.

Local residents can submit comments on the Planning Application here before the 20th August 2010.

WV11 Comment: It seems somewhat absurd that after closing a perfectly good school building less than 3 years ago (apparently due to dwindling  pupil numbers) and leaving it to rot, the council is now seeking planning permission to rebuild an entire school, presumably to cater for increased pupil numbers?

We’d love to hear your comments either on the website or on our Facebook Page.

The applicant (Mr H.S. Gill) has requested a change of use of the ground floor from retail (Use Class A1) to a dental surgery (Use Class D1).

View the full application here.

The Express and Star looks at the current success of Wednesfield’s Bentley Bridge Retail Park in this recent article.

As previously reported, national chain Cosmo is due to open it’s new Pan Asian restaurant next month which will serve food from China, Japan and Mongolia, creating 38 jobs.

JD Sports is also rumoured to be on the verge of snapping up an empty unit on the retail park, bringing more jobs to the area and becoming the 2nd sports retailer on the park.

With other units recently being filled by AMF Bowling Alley, Aldi supermarket, Pure Gym, and Just For Pets (which opens on  25th March), it would seem that Bentley Bridge is finally beginning to live up to it’s potential as a retail park worth leaving the city centre to visit, 5 years after it opened.

Let’s hope this trend continues!

If you’re likely to be affected by this proposed application you can find details here. You can also find general information on planning applications by visiting the Council’s Planning Online website.

View a map of the area HERE

Essington parish council objected to the plans, claiming it would be a “blight on the greenbelt and increase in traffic” so understandably they are happy with today’s decision and so should we be in Wv11. The South Staffordshire green belt is a lovely area of natural beauty right on out doorstep.

View a map of the area HERE