Changes to plan to turn ex-vets into flats after initial scheme approved

Sandwell Council has already approved plans to turn the former vets on the corner of Hagley Road West and Stanley Road, Quinton, into a furniture showroom and flats.

Shyqyri Meshi’s latest application is asking Sandwell Council to approve changes to plans it approved two years ago – including a loft conversion for two new flats.

Planners at Sandwell Council have approved work to convert the ground floor of the former vets into a furniture showroom with upper floors and a new extension converted into flats.

Those plans were approved in December 2022 after an initial move to convert the ground floor into four new shops and the rest of the building into eight flats received “significant opposition” from neighbors due to a lack of parking. The council also raised concerns about the application over “highways, design and planning policy” issues, the authority said.

The plans were eventually revised, showing old offices converted into two one-bed flats and a new extension housing two one-bed flats alongside a new furniture showroom.

Seven parking spaces – five for the showroom and two for apartments – were promised in the 2022 plans, and the two additional apartments will not come with any additional parking space, according to Mr Meshi’s new application.

Animal charity PDSA moved its veterinary hospital to a new £1.8m site in St Matthew’s Road, Oldbury, in 2015. The Hagley Road West building was subsequently used as the organisation’s donation center charity before closing in 2020.

Approving the application in 2022, the council said: “The current use of the premises is already commercial and has been for a significant period of time and is directly adjacent to a row of shops serving the community.

“Overall it is considered that the applicant is proposing a development which meets the requirements of national and local policy whilst having a limited impact on the character of the area and the amenity of neighboring properties.”