A FORMER DIY superstore in Greenlands could finally be redeveloped as housing if Redditch councillors agree to it later this month.

The old Texas Homecare store, off Greenlands Drive, has been derelict for years and the target of vandalism and travellers.

Now developer Dodd Homes is proposing to transform the 2.85 hectare site into 64 apartments and 20 houses, a third of which would be for social housing.

Last year, there was debate among Redditch councillors as to whether it should be kept as land designated for employment use.

Now they will have to decide its future on October 13.

If the homes get the green light, a 15m landscape buffer would be created between them and the neighbouring Alder Carr nature reserve.

John Truslove, who marketed the site, said: "This is an innovative proposal for a location which as a retail or distribution warehouse site has had its day.

"When Sandford opened a store there in the late 80s, it was the first modern, American-style DIY warehouse the area had seen.

"It later became Texas but as the years progressed, retailers began to look for out-of-town retail parks that had several occupiers.

"This is a very important site but as a retail development it had had its time.

"It makes much more sense to have a sympathetic residential development on the edge of Greenlands in what is essentially a residential part of Redditch."