Unexpected Structure Prompts Railway Station Redesign

Walsall councillors have been informed that plans for a new railway station require modification due to the erection of an “unstable” structure in close proximity, which reportedly lacks planning permission. During a Walsall Council session, it was communicated that removing the problematic building in Willenhall would incur significant time and financial costs, necessitating the adjustment of the station’s design to accommodate it. Victoria Kinally, representing the West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE), stated: “It popped up in May this year. We came back to work after the bank holiday weekend and it had appeared next to our construction site.” Her colleague, James Callingham, further commented: “It is far from ideal to be changing this at this stage, but effectively we’ve got no choice but to keep the project moving and on schedule.” This information was presented to councillors during a briefing on the progress of new stations planned for Willenhall, Darlaston, and Aldridge. Ms Kinally noted that the structure in question seemed to lack both planning permission and building control oversight, and had “already started to crumble.” She also mentioned that the owner had recently dismantled a section of it and made efforts to reinforce it. However, Mr Callingham remarked: “Because this building isn’t going away, quite frankly, we’re looking at doing some mitigations and adjusting the design [to the station].” Adrian Andrew, the deputy leader of the council, further stated: “Our building control people have been down there on a number of occasions. “We are looking at other ways of doing this but we need to act quickly so this project doesn’t go off track.” The WMRE indicated that accommodating the unexpected structure was not anticipated to impact the total project cost, which is presently £85m for the Willenhall and Darlaston stations. The executive also confirmed that construction on these two stations, designed to connect Wolverhampton and Walsall, is scheduled for completion between late 2025 and early 2026. The Local Democracy Reporting Service, which reports on councils and other public service bodies, compiled this report. For more from BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country, follow on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available for review.