PLANNING bosses look set to give the green light to ambitious plans that could finally end the uncertainty surrounding the future of a disused hospital in Cookley.

Wyre Forest District Council’s planning committee are set to give delegated approval to the outline planning application - subject to a section 106 agreement - to transform the site of the former Lea Castle Hospital into residential development, when they meet on Tuesday (November 21).

The Homes and Communities Agency’s plans include up to 600 homes, offices and potentially a small local shop or cafe. It is also one of the key sites in the district council’s controversial Local Plan.

The Lea Castle Hospital – a mental health unit - treated and assessed more than 600 people in its heyday in the 1960s and boasted facilities including a hydrotherapy pool and dental clinic. The centre closed its doors in 2008 despite campaigning from groups including the Lea Castle Action Group.

The hospital site was run by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust and employed 187 people before the closure was announced. Trust bosses had decided to close the site following a public consultation.

The future of the hospital site had been uncertain for many years, with rumours circulating that it could be redeveloped as a science business park, a prison or a traveller’s site.

It also became a target for metal thieves and the Shuttle reported in 2013 how residents were worried by the use of the site for police exercises.

The report submitted to the planning committee said: “The application site consists of the buildings and land associated with the former Lea Castle Hospital site which lies beyond the north eastern fringe of Kidderminster, between the A449, Wolverhampton Road, and the A451, Stourbridge Road. The site is located within the green belt.

"The site contains a variety of now vacant former hospital related buildings and associated access and circulation roads, set within an attractive and mature, albeit now overgrown in places, landscape.

"The site is also home to long established, and well maintained, playing pitches along with a small clubhouse used by local football club(s), located towards the southern extreme of the site."

In April, a spokesman for the Homes and Communities Agency told the Shuttle: "Our vision for the former Lea Castle Hospital site is to see this derelict site brought into use to provide good quality and well-designed new homes, with a range of tenures to provide for a variety of needs."

Residents can view the full outline planning application for the Lea Castle Hospital site on Wyre Forest District Council’s planning website - via the reference number 17/0205/OUTL.