Urban regeneration in places like Wolverhampton can produce all kinds of new homes, but that could be a challenge if any of them need a stairlift fitting in due course. However, it can be met.
While the centre of Birmingham is increasingly being dominated by new residential towers to go with the eventual arrival of HS2, the latest development on the edge of Wolverhampton city centre is rather more low-rise.
The Canalside South development by Birmingham-based Wavensmere Homes has just gained planning permission. It sits adjacent to the Wolverhampton Branch of the Birmingham Main Line Canal and the Wyrley & Essington Canal, close to Wolverhampton Railway Station.
Located next to a conservation area, this residential-led brownfield development won’t involve any tall buildings, with townhouses and apartment buildings of no more than three storeys set to dominate as 530 new dwellings emerge from the construction process.
While there won’t be any steel and glass edifices towering over the city, the new homes will still be somewhat removed from any standard semi-detached property in the suburbs. That may raise the question of how anyone living there with mobility issues will cope, but reconditioned stairlifts can be adapted to fit almost any home with stairs, so fear not.
Managing director of Wavensmere Homes James Dickens said the development would be a “catalyst for a new wave of ambitious city living” in Wolverhampton.
If so, it may be that it is townhouses and more modestly-sized apartment blocks that dominate in a city like this, leaving the bigger and brasher cities like Birmingham to do funky things like building the world’s tallest octagonal skyscraper.
As people of all ages move into the new homes in Wolverhampton, it should be reassuring that any time a stairlift is needed for less mobile residents, there will always be a way of fitting one.
