Friday, December 27, 2013 Express & StarES6 www.expressandstar.com

Owner of former Sunbeam building to renovate it for housing

Jobs and 111 homeson way to factory site

it has stood as a depressingreminder of decline and dere-liction for a decade and a half.

But now the iconic former Sunbeamfactory is being given a new lease of lifeas homes.

And today it can be revealed that 40 jobswill be created over the course of a three-year renovation of the 120,000 sq ft build-ing.

New owner Liam Wordley has submittedplans to create 111 homes, with 30 of themset aside to provide supported housing forpeople with learning disabilities.

The remaining 81 will be available to renton the open market and will be of differentsizes. It is expected some will be across twofloors.

Developers have also revealed they willbe re-instating the iconic Sunbeam letteringdown the side of the building as part of therenovation.

CaringThe courtyard of the building will be gut-

ted and landscaped to provide a grassedarea for people to sit and play sports. Therewill also be new spiral staircases built.

Of the new jobs, 32 will be during theconstruction phase with many of the othersexpected to come from the caring profes-sion.

The site will also have 110 car parkingspaces according to plans lodged withWolverhampton City Council.

Mr Wordley was also behind the redevel-opment of the former Territorial Army drillhall in Stafford Street as student accommo-dation.

He said he was talking to registered sociallandlords about the prospect of them pro-viding the support for people with learningdisabilities at the Sunbeam site.

The 34-year-old former Exeter Chiefsrugby player said: “There will be around 40people with learning disabilities catered forwith a linked up alarm and call system.

“What is currently there at the Sunbeamsite is a derelict shell. This project will giveit a new life.”

The former factory off the Penn Roadisland has been empty for 14 years.

It is not far from where Sainsbury’s hasnow begun the development of its multi-million pound supermarket.

The site also stands at the gateway to thecity’s ring road.

In its report to the city council, develop-

A children’s hospice which is undergoing a£400,000 extension is to further expand,under new plans put forward by bosses.

Acorns, which supports youngsters andtheir families, is looking to create extra facil-ities at its Black Country base.

The hospice is now looking to build a sin-gle-storey extension which would accommo-date a wet room in Walstead Road, Walsall.

A formal application has been submitted toWalsall Council and a decision is expected tobe made by councillors or planning officersunder delegated powers early next year.

It comes after a £400,000 project to increasefacilities at the hospice started in October.

The six month project includes the additionof a two storey extension to the existing build-ing on Walstead Road.

The new building includes family accommo-

existing building. The extension will accom-modate a wet room.

“The proposed extension is an appropriatesolution to meet the applicant’s operationalrequirements and is considered to be essentialto meet the hospice’s continuing userdemands. The design is in keeping with theexisting building and the impact of the sur-rounding environment will be negligible.”

Ann Smallman, head of care services atAcorns, said: “It will allow families additionalprivacy with the final care of their child at adifficult and very sensitive time, which weknow is particularly importance in certain cul-tures.”

Acorns has bases in Walsall, Selly Oak andWorcester. The first was in Birmingham andfollowed soon after by its hospice in the BlackCountry in 1999.The Acorns Hospice in Walsall

Children’s hospice in £400,000extension having more work done

dation on the first floor with two bedrooms,bathroom, living space and lift access.

Families will have access to a ground floortherapy room for complementary sessions,counselling and group work.

There will also be a dedicated, tempera-ture controlled storage room for specialistequipment, including beds, in addition toseparate work to upgrade the central heat-ing and hot water system and install air-con-ditioning.

The new wet room application has beenput forward through AT Architects Ltd.

A supporting document states: “The pro-posals are for a single-storey extension adja-cent to the reception area at the front of the

Report by Craig Hughes craig.hughes@expressandstar.co.uk

Heaven 17 willvisit for concertEighties synth pop band Heaven 17

start a new UK tour in Birmingham inFebruary.

The Sheffield group, which featuresfounders Martyn Ware and Glenn Gre-gory, will be playing hits including Temp-tation and songs from debut albumPenthouse and Pavement in BirminghamTown Hall on Valentine’s Day – February14 – at 8pm. Tickets are £22.50 from thetown hall or Symphony Hall box office.

A benefits cheat paying backmore than £42,000 of illicit hand-outs at £50 a month would needto live to 125 to clear the debt, ajudge heard.

Stephen Wilkinson falselyclaimed housing benefit andcouncil tax relief on his home inCannock for more than nineyears before he was caught.

The benefits were paid to himas a single person, but he failed

to tell the Department of Worksand Pensions when his partnermoved in with him and she had afull-time job.

Mr James Bruce, prosecuting,said the claims went on fromMay 2003 until September lastyear and involved a total of£42,692.

He had promised to repay it at£50 a month.

Wilkinson, aged 54, of Brown-

shill Road, Norton Canes, whoadmitted two charges of failing tonotify a change of circumstances,was given a four-month prisonsentence suspended for a yearand ordered to do 150 hoursunpaid community work.

But Judge Mark Eades toldhim: “Now the shortfall is£42,000 and you are going to payit back at £50 a month? It isgoing to take you 71 years – if

you live that long, which youwon’t.”

Mr Rob Perry, defending, saidWilkinson had been unable towork since 1993 due to arthritis,but his benefits had beenchanged to jobseekers’ allowanceas he was now deemed fit.

“His relationship with hispartner started, she moved in tohis address and he buried hishead in the sand.”

Benefits cheat needs 71 years to clear debt

oN The web

1Man found dead in stafford street isnamed

2Man’s body found in Kidderminsterpond

3Too shiny – festive wrapping paperbanned from recycling inWolverhampton

4selfridges hits heights as Midlandsbargain hunters flock for Boxing daysales

5Man in hospital after Walsall fire rescue

MosT Read

and they’re off . . . the post-Christmas sales areunder way. Were you one of the early-morningshoppers caught on camera by our photographer?

PhoTo choice

www.expressandstar.com

if you're heading to the sales this weekend - make sureyou check out our top ten dresses on the high street.We've teamed up with the gorgeous stars of sleepingBeauty to bring you party dresses fit for a princess.Check out our video with the stunning lucy evans.

For more details and other events across the region visitNativemonster.com

should rules over recycling be relaxed toinclude wrapping paper?

85%of readers said yes

15%said no

oNliNe poll results

ToP commenteD

Too shiny – festive wrapping paper banned from recyclingin Wolverhampton“The reason the council is cash strapped is because theyaward salaries to people who make decisions such as these.Aanybody who sits at the civic centre and has ideas such asthese is no more than a quango parasite and a complete drainon resources. They doesn’t deserve jobs.”

TV review: Raised by Wolves“I thought it was funny, well written and accents were verygood . . . because they all but one of the young actors camefrom the area! And the one that didn’t is from Birmingham, sonot that far ! It’s nice to have any references to the BlackCountry on TV in a positive light so I truly hope that Channel 4give it a chance. I can see it going far!”

Today’s Poll – Which celebration do youprefer, Christmas or New year?

ers J Mason Associates said: “The Midlandsis the home to some of the finest industrialarchitecture of the last two hundreds yearsand Wolverhampton was a key city in thearea.

The Sunbeam factory was no exceptionand the section of the extensive factory thatremains is both an important monument tothe transport industry and also a prominentlandmark in the area.

“Working with the existing fabric of thebuilding new proposals will look to retainmany of the industrial features whilst com-

bining a modern twist to enable comfortableand spacious inner city living that is visuallyengaging.”

It goes on to say: “The iconic ‘Sunbeam’lettering down the points of the building areto be re-instated.”

RenownedThe Sunbeam motorcycles that were built

there were renowned all over the world andwere manufactured at the site in Paul Streetand Jeddo Street from 1890 to 1937.

The factory also moved into car produc-

tion and produced vehicles that were suc-cessful on the racing circuit and driven bythe likes of Sir Henry Seagrave.

One of the company’s largest achieve-ments included producing the car whichbroke the world land-speed record at Day-tona Beach in Florida in 1927 after hitting203.79mph.

Sunbeam closed in 1936 and AssociatedMotor Cycles took over the site in 1937,manufacturing radiators at the factory.

Production finished in 1999 with the lossof 60 jobs.

Report by Danielwainwrightdaniel.wainwright@expressandstar.co.uk

The Sunbeam Factory, in Pool Street, WolverhamptonAn artist’s impression of the Sunbeam site development

The courtyard section of the landmark former Sunbeam factory site will be grassed and landscaped in the owner’s proposals