A PLAN to build canalside flats in Tipton has been backed by the council. 

The move to demolish a builder’s yard and offices in Brick Kiln Street, Tipton, for a new three-storey block with nine flats has been approved by Sandwell Council.

The application had previously been criticised by the council for potentially ‘damaging’ protected views of the listed St Martins and St Pauls church from the ‘sensitive’ canalside location near Tipton railway station.

After the concerns were raised by Sandwell’s urban design and conservation officers, the plans were redrawn and have now been backed by the council. 

TDF Design, the agent for the applicant Mr A Afzal, said several other ‘prominent’ apartment blocks had already been built along the canalside in Tipton – particularly near the opposite end of the town’s main Owen Street.

Tipton’s canalside locks are part of a conservation area which has greater protection designed to preserve as much of the area as possible. If buildings are located in a conversation area, they are usually subject to tighter planning controls to protect any historic and architectural elements.

Any developments must “protect and enhance” the canalside, the council said, with the waterways providing a “unifying characteristic of the Black Country’s urban structure and landscape.”

The approval from the council comes after some of the council’s urban design and conservation officers had raised concerns about the plan saying the tall building would damage canalside views of a listed church.

The council’s urban design officer said Brick Kiln Street was a “highly prominent location” and the proposed apartments would not fit in with the canal and the surrounding conservation area. The plan has also been criticised for chopping down a number of trees.

“It appears, given its three-storey nature that it will block views onto the significant local landmark of the listed St Martin’s and St Paul’s Church,” the council had said.

The council also predicted the apartment block could be problematic for future residents if it was built saying its proposed adjoining car park would disrupt privacy for those living on the ground floor and provide a “hard environment … and poor outlook” for everyone else.

Sandwell’s conservation officer has also said the designs appeared “detrimental” to the protected canalside.

“The proposal stands within the setting of the statutorily listed church and adjoins the Factory Locks conservation area,” the officer said in response to the application. “It also stands near to the locally listed railway station. As such this is a sensitive location from a heritage perspective […] the 3D renders and the plans indicate that the building may interfere with views from the canalside particularly of the listed church.”