Shafts to be filled in at ‘high-risk’ Wolverhampton housing site

Uncapped former coal workings must be filled in at a former primary school before homes can be built on the site, City of Wolverhampton Council says.

The council plans to develop the former Loxdale Primary School as affordable housing – but needs to complete remediation works on the “high-risk” former coalfield site first.

The council has engaged specialist engineering consultancy Johnson Poole and Bloomer to plot the locations of potential mine-shafts on the school’s half-acre former sports field, with four identified from the firm’s records as requiring capping.

An application lodged by the authority this week says the materials that lie underneath the site present a “high risk for spontaneous combustion” during proposed treatment works, which are also at risk of mine gas build-ups in the former shallow workings on the site.

“The works comprise former coal mineshaft treatment on the northern part of the former school site to enable proposed residential development, which will be under a separate planning application,” said a scope of works document, prepared by the council’s project team.

“The shaft depths are uncertain, but an average estimated depth of 80m and grout take of 150 tonnes per shaft has been assumed for preliminary assessment purposes.”

The report adds that the capping process risks “initiation of collapses or forced migration of mine gases to nearby properties” – with contractors required to supply site specific risk assessments, method statements and insurance details for the stabilisation programme prior to starting work.

The authority secured £1.4m of government funding in November 2024 to clean up two sites in Wolverhampton; the Stowheath Day Training Centre site in East Park and Loxdale School.

Loxdale school moved to new premises in Bilston Urban Village in September 2019, while the former school has been pressed into use as a taxi licensing facility since 2022.

The authority says that, subject to planning approval, work is expected to begin later this year, with remediation works expect to last around eight weeks.

A separate application for a planned housing development on the site will be submitted afterwards, with 89 homes planned for Loxdale and Stowheath combined.

Documents and plans relating to the application can be viewed on the council’s planning portal under reference: 25/00820/FUL