PLANS to build homes on a disused Black Country haulage yard are set to go-ahead, despite fears from residents and a local councillor.

Dudley Council’s development control committee is being recommended to approve an application by Stourbridge-based MJR Services Ltd to build eight homes off Cygnet Lane in Pensnett.

The site and its adjacent workshop was last used as a haulage yard for a construction company.

MJR Services is seeking approval to create a cul-de-sac with four two-bedroom and four three-bedroom properties.

But the plans have led to objections by residents, supported by Cllr Sue Greenway, who say the development would put pressure on existing drainage systems and claim the plans would encroach on existing gardens. 

The application is identical to a scheme rejected by the council in 2016 but later approved after an appeal to the planning inspector. 

That decision has set a precedent that members of the development control committee are unlikely to ignore. 

In recommending approval, planning officers said the scheme helps meet the need for new housing.

A report to the committee said: “This is a vacant 0.3 hectare site, bordered by a derelict former railway line to the east, the gardens of residential properties on Cygnet Lane to the south and west, and the rear gardens of dwellings on High Street to the north.”

It added: “The development would provide new housing to help meet the borough’s demand for new homes, and the proposed type and tenure’ layout and design are appropriate for the area and can be accommodated without any significant adverse impact on existing residents, trees and ecology, or the local highway network.

“The proposals would provide a high quality development, which is considered would make a positive contribution to the area and which constitutes sustainable development.”

The development control committee will discuss the plans at its meeting on Wednesday, October 9.