New homes approved for 'contaminated' factory site

Plans to build more than 30 houses on the site of a former battery factory in Wolverhampton have been approved.

Wonderful Homes, in partnership with the Black Country Housing Group, has submitted plans to convert the G&P Batteries factory on Grove Street, Heath Town, which closed in 1998, into 31 canalside "affordable" homes.

Due to its industrial history, developers have said the land is significantly contaminated, and investigations have found widespread pollutants, including lead and asbestos.

Work to clear the site is set to begin in March 2026.

The City of Wolverhampton Council welcomed the plans to regenerate the derelict site and said it was delivering much-needed housing as well as providing employment benefits during construction.

A report by the local authority outlining its decision said conditions would be included to ensure ground contamination was removed and the site was drained to reduce flood risk.

Buildings on the site were demolished in 2008 but large mounds of concrete debris remain.

As large parts of the Wyrley and Essington canal have been resurfaced, developers have said the former battery factory "presented an unmanaged and unattractive edge" to the canal, "dominated by old tin metal fencing, dense scrub, self-seeded saplings, and mounds of demolition debris".

City of Wolverhampton Council previously approved plans to build 56 flats on the site in 2021 but they were never built.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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