PLANS to build 14 houses on vacant land on a residential Lower Gornal street look set to be approved by councillors.

A planning application to build new homes on Summit Place has been recommended for approval with conditions, despite objections raised by residents.

Applicant A E Hawkins Management Ltd seeks approval to build ten semi-detached three-bedroom houses, two detached four-bedroom houses and two bungalows on the land which is surrounded on three sides by houses and is close to the Bush Inn pub.

Plans for the site date back to 2000 when an application was made to demolish an existing pub and build 15 homes and a bungalow, while a later plan in 2006 sought to develop 15 new homes, according to planning documents.

The latest application was submitted last October and received six initial objects from residents, followed by a further five after plans were amended to reduce the number of houses from 19 to 14.

Among concerns cited by residents were road safety, worries the route is already a 'rat run' and stability concerns of the land due to a history of shallow coal mining at the site.

West Midlands Police also requested amendments be made to address a lack of natural surveillance as the area "suffers a high rate of vehicle crime", the documents state.

Recommending the plan for the development, the report concludes: "The proposed development would utilise previously developed land to provide new housing within a sustainable location. The dwellings would be of an appropriate scale and design and would reflect the mixed character of the locality and the amenity of neighbouring and future occupiers are not considered to be detrimentally affected."

Planning chiefs at Dudley Council recommended the plan to be approved, subject to 25 conditions.

One condition stated that no development should start at the site until details of access and parking for the homes have been submitted and approved by the local authority.

The application will be put before councillors at Dudley Council's Development Control Committee Meeting on July 22.