PART of a former Tipton club left to rot for several years will now be demolished as the council prepares to convert the building into new housing. 

Sandwell Council has put forward plans to demolish part of the former Conservative Club in Union Street, Tipton, as it works towards converting the historic but decaying building into much-needed housing.

The locally listed but former and long-empty Conservative Club, which has now been vacant for some years, was bought by the council after its condition was rapidly deteriorating following a number of break-ins. 

A modern extension at the rear of the club would be demolished with the rest of the building staying in place.

Sandwell Council is still weighing up its options for the decaying building as part of a £20 million ‘levelling up’ project in Tipton. 

The authority was given millions in ‘levelling up’ money from the government to invest in regenerating Tipton town centre with the main plan to demolish the 70-year-old council flats in Union Street for 55 new ones. However, initial plans to breathe new life into many empty and run-down shops were scrapped due to rising costs. The application was rubber-stamped by councillors last month.

The canalside building was home to the Union Flour Mill from 1840 before becoming Tipton Conservative Club in 1909. The club closed suddenly in 2016.

A huge cannabis farm worth around £1 million was discovered at the abandoned club by police in June 2020. Fire broke out at the Union Street building just three months later.

When revealing its intention to build new council flats in Union Street last year, the council said it is was still looking at ways of turning the former club into housing with plans still to be finalised.

A statement included with the application: “The proposal has been informed by ongoing pre-application discussions with Historic England and Sandwell Council in support of a wider regeneration scheme to Tipton as part of £20million levelling up funding. 

“The wider scheme includes the demolition of 6-25 Union Street and 70-75 Union Street to provide 3-4 storey residential accommodation

“The third development parcel is the re-use of the now vacant Conservative Club for residential accommodation. This is currently in its concept phase and options are being scoped for the development of the site to maximise its potential.

In light of the regeneration scheme, the proposed demolition of the Conservative Club relates solely to the rear, single storey 20th century extension of the building. 

The core of the building will be retained and is proposed for conversion for residential under a separate forthcoming application. 

The demolition will enable the applicant to assess in further detail the former external wall, now internalised due to the extension, which will also help supercharge the programme and avoid delays.”

The demolition work is expected to begin before the end of the year if the planning application by Sandwell Council is approved.