Dudley Council planners have approved the demolition of the former Dudley Leisure Centre on Wellington Road, clearing the way for work to begin on the 5.7-acre site. However, the demolition application confirms there are currently no plans for redevelopment of the site for housing.
Demolition details and timelines
The leisure centre, which dates back to the 1970s, closed to the public in 2022 and was replaced by the Duncan Edwards Centre on Constitution Hill. Demolition work is expected to take around three months to complete, including the safe removal of asbestos sheets.
Metal frameworks from the buildings will be recycled, while brick and block work will be broken up and crushed to be used as hardcore on the site and to backfill the former centre's swimming pools. A number of trees on the site are subject to tree protection orders, and work will not be able to begin until measures have been put in place to ensure they are identified and not damaged.
No housing plans yet
A report from Dudley Council planners on the demolition application said: "There is nothing to suggest from the historic environment record or from undertaking a previous site visit that there are any buildings within the site which have any significant historic environment value."
Council leaders hope the site will be used for housing, but in the demolition application, Halesowen-based Revelan Developments Ltd say there are currently no plans for redevelopment of the site. A previous £1.6m deal to sell the site to Stourbridge-based Wellington DLC Ltd, who promised to invest £25m in building 150 homes on the site, collapsed in summer 2024.
Collapsed deal and next steps
The council pulled out of the deal saying that while an agreement had been reached in principle, no legally binding commitments had been made. A report on the collapsed deal by the council's external auditors Grant Thornton is expected to be presented to the next meeting of the authority's Audit Committee.