Council to face questions over eyesore sites in Stratford

Councillors are to be quizzed on what action is being taken to improve three prominent derelict sites in the middle of Stratford.

During next week’s full council meeting, opposition Liberal Democrat councillor Jenny Fradgley will draw attention to the former Green Dragon site and Paperways building on Greenhill Street and the old BHS store on Bridge Street.

She will ask what the council is doing to oblige the landowners to bring these sites into proper use and what powers can be exercised to compel site owners to act.

Planning permission was granted to develop the former Green Dragon site into an apartment building with ground floor office space in 2017, but there has been little progress since.

However a new application for 18 apartments with ground floor commercial space is expected to be considered for the site later this year.

Back in 2016 permission was granted to turn the former Paperways shop on Greenhill Street into a restaurant/café, but a subsequent application to extend the opening hours failed and again the site has remained derelict.

Plans to covert the former BHS store on Bridge Street into a 170-bed hotel including a gym and restaurants were granted planning permission in January last year, but again the building has remained empty and in a poor state.