Probe into student accommodation gas blunder
An internal investigation has been launched at Wolverhampton City Council after it bypassed the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) before granting planning permission to a £40m "student village", Insider has learned. The authority has admitted to making “a procedural mistake” after the HSE expressed concern over the site’s proximity to a liquid propane gas storage unit.
The Court of Appeal ruled the council illegally failed to consider whether to use its powers to revoke or modify the planning permission previously granted in respect of Block D of the Victoria halls accomodation, which has not yet been built. Blocks A, B and C of the development have been completed and are already occupied by students.
Steve Boyes, Wolverhampton City Council's director for sustainable communities, said: “We will learn the lessons from what went wrong here and will conduct an internal investigation now that legal proceedings have concluded. Finding a long-term solution to the regeneration of Wolverhampton's canalside quarter continues to be a priority for the council.
"The council acknowledges, as we have done throughout, that we made a procedural mistake in the original granting of planning consent for the Victoria Halls development.
“Our planning committee will reconsider whether to exercise powers to revoke or modify the original consent insofar as it relates to Block D.”
The council did not refer to the other three occupied blocks.
A spokesman for HSE has“welcomed the ruling.
He said: "The council's decision not to revoke or modify the planning permission has been quashed and it must now reconsider the matter. The HSE looks forward to working with the council, in accordance with established planning procedures, to ensure that it gives due weight to safety concerns when making decisions."
