Walsall: fresh housing plans for former Willenhall town centre Wetherspoons

It’s the second application put forward to develop The Malthouse on New Road, the previous one was withdrawn by applicant Menfor Group in August last year.

The application to Walsall Council planners is mostly the same as the last one, which proposed to build eight one-bedroom flats, six parking spaces and cycle storage. The work would include adding an extra storey to the existing building, providing four floors, each with two flats.

On the ground floor, the part of the building which faces out onto New Road is split into two halves. The old single-storey seating area at the front of the pub would be turned into a retail space and the other half would be the two ground floor flats.

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The rear of the building, where the bar, seating area and customer toilets were, has been sectioned off in this planning application. Agent Cr8 Architecture said that part of the building is earmarked for a future residential development.

The pub on New Road closed to customers in March 2023. In its past the building was used as a cinema and bingo hall. The property was sold in 2024, having been put on the market welcoming offers in the region of £650,000.