A historic listed building in Dudley town centre may have to be demolished, a leading councillor has warned.
The former post office in Wolverhampton Street is standing empty and decaying which is causing concern for ex-mayor Cllr David Stanley.
At November’s meeting of the authority’s Housing and Assets Scrutiny Committee, Cllr Stanley called for more action to make the town centre attractive to visitors.
He said: “We do have a difficulty with the old general post office.
“I believe the owner lives abroad, possibly in Australia and we are making no progress on that.
“It is a great shame that a building of that nature is allowed to deteriorate and become a real eyesore; if it left much longer I think there will be no alternative other than demolition.”
The grade II listed building was constructed in 1909 and has a number of significant features, it is listed for its special architectural or historic interest.
It was put up for sale in 2017 with planning permission for 21 flats and a guide price of £525,000 but was never developed. Around ten years previously it was used as the Nulla Nulla nightclub.
Cllr Stanley urged councillors, including his fellow Conservative and committee chairman Adam Davies who represents Brierley Hill, to do more for Dudley town centre.
Cllr Stanley said: “We have a lot to judge ourselves on, as much as you are interested in getting Brierley Hill up and running and back as it should be, I am as keen to get the same to Dudley.
“We have a big deterrent at the moment and that is the amount of work that is going on to keep people out.
“We need to make it more attractive and get people back using Dudley town centre.
“Any property that belongs to this authority – we should be working very hard to make certain it is brought back into use.”
Iain Wallace, Dudley’s associate director of acquisitions, compliance and maintenance, said he would report back to the committee on the points raised by Cllr Stanley.
Comments
Add a comment