By Martyn Smith
Copyright birminghammail
A Netherton care home has won an appeal against a Dudley Council decision to block an 18-room extension. Ashgrove Care Home on Dudley Wood Road was denied permission for the development in April 2025 after the council concluded the work would create an ‘incongruous addition’ to the existing building. The unsuccessful application was the second attempt by the home for extra bedrooms, a previous application was turned down in 2024. Read more: Pressure builds on council to publish failed leisure centre sale report Read more: Leading Dudley councillor speaks out to dispel accusations about his past After a site visit, an inspector from the government’s Planning Inspectorate overturned the council’s decision. The Inspectorate concluded: “The proposed development would not harm the character and appearance of the area or host building. “The proposed development would be visible from a number of viewpoints that surround the appeal site. “However, most views would be glimpses, particularly from Dudley Wood Road and the public footpath that runs between Spring Meadow Road and Dudley Road. “These views would generally be for short periods from pedestrians and road users, through the change in land levels and generally well vegetated area which assists in restricting views from the surrounding area.” The inspector also dismissed council concerns about overlooking after finding views from windows in the new building would be directed away from private gardens. Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here A statement from legal firm Knights in support of the appeal said: “It is also important to acknowledge the identified local demand for additional residential care home provision in the local area; the appellant has a waiting list for places at Coppice Residential Care Home and Netherton Green Nursing Home (which is located half a mile to the northeast) has recently reduced its capacity from 120-beds to 30-beds. “Both of these factors prompted the NHS Trust (who are keen to refer more people to this home) to issue a letter of support which accompanied the planning application.” Day in day out, our reporters in the BirminghamLive newsroom bring you stories from across the West Midlands. However, a hell of a lot happens here and it can be difficult to stay on top of it all. That is why we have a suite of newsletters, tailored to your needs. They include Birmingham Politics, Nostalgia, Court and Crime Updates and, of course, BirminghamLive Daily – the biggest stories of the day sent at morning, lunch and evening. There are also local ones like Black Country News, MySolihull and MySuttonColdfield. Choose which newsletters best suit you . You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in the region. If you prefer reading our stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here . And finally, if there is a story you think our journalists should be looking into, we want to hear from you. Email us on newsdesk@birminghammail.co.uk .
