An application to turn a former pub and cannabis factory in Willenhall into apartments is currently under consideration.
The Castle Inn on New Road closed in 2018 before refurbishment was abandoned due to a severe fire shortly after. The pub remained abandoned until police discovered it was being used as a cannabis factory in 2020 and seized £500k worth of plants.
The proposed plan for SEVEN apartments, including an extension to the existing building, has been made by Amrik Singh
Agents MTC Planning and Design said: “The Castle Inn traded in June 2018, it was then closed so that full refurbishment could take place.
“Unfortunately, before this was completed a severe fire occurred that caused extensive internal damage. As a result the public house never re-opened and remained boarded and closed to the public.
“As such the pub has not traded for four years, was available to purchase by would be potential landlords to run as a going concern but no interest has been expressed.
“It is clear from in internal inspection that significant sums of money would be required to repair and restore the public house into a usable site, a cost that would be very risky due to a) the current economic climate that is severely affecting public houses, and b) the fact that this site has long lost its trade.
“Therefore, it is clear that public house is redundant and can be considered suitable for conversion, re-use, and refurbishment.
“The proposals (are) to partially demolish the outbuildings to the former Castle Inn public house, convert the existing buildings into studio style apartments and construct a two-story rear extension to include a 7th apartment.
“The proposals will seek to preserve a prominent local building, provide residential accommodation that does not cause overlooking issues to existing neighbouring properties, and improve existing site access.
“The design seeks to reuse a redundant building in a viable way that provides accommodation in a sustainable location.”