Detailed plans for a mixed use development that is set to rejuvenate Dudley’s main visitor attractions have been submitted for planning approval.

The application has been submitted by Birmingham-based planning and development consultancy RPS, on behalf of Portexcept Ltd, a company led by West Midlands property developer Guy Treharne.

If approved, the plans would see the redevelopment of Mullins Yard, a five acre site linked to the town’s famous zoo and castle and the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM).

Mullins Yard is sandwiched between the BCLM and the Castle Hill scheme, the latter being an ambitious plan by St Modwen to redevelop the zoo and its surroundings, which came in for criticism by Ian Walden, director of BCLM, for the slow progress on the site.

He said the plans had been on the table for eight years and it was important to get the site developed for the jobs it would create in the local area as well as for the prestige it would bring to Dudley. The council said it was a complex site and hoped to make further announcements later this year.

The St Modwen scheme, which is being backed by Advantage West Midlands, would see significant development on the site of the zoo itself with a new tropical dome and Asiatic forest as well as a further 60 acres of development at the base of Castle Hill including a new natural history, science-based attraction called ‘Origins’ as well as homes, apartments and leisure facilities.

Mullins Yard, which currently consists of a former tannery building and derelict land, sits between the St Modwen site and the BCLM and will be redeveloped as a mixed use leisure, tourism and retail scheme.

The scheme will be anchored by a 120 bed hotel, and there will also be a pub/restaurant, around 3,000 sq m of retail space and a showroom/exhibition centre for Royal Brierley Crystal.

There will also be a number of business start-up units and it is envisaged that the development as a whole will create at least 140 new jobs.

The scheme will also include a 120 space car park, which will be specifically for visitors to the BCLM. This will replace an overspill car park currently used by BCLM on land earmarked for redevelopment as part of the Castle Hill scheme.

In a further link with Dudley’s main visitor attractions, the entrance to the redeveloped Mullins Yard site will be off the main access road to the Castle Hill scheme.

Tim Partridge, technical director at RPS in Birmingham, said that the redevelopment of Mullins Yard would provide an important link between Dudley’s key visitor attractions.

“This is a mostly vacant and rundown site, and because it is located on one of Dudley’s main arterial roads, it is not a good advert for the town in its present state,” he said. “The site is directly between the zoo and castle and the BCLM, and because of that it is important that it is developed in an attractive and sympathetic manner.

“Not only that, but the fact that the redevelopment will create around 140 jobs - with 60 being in the start-up units - will be a major boost to the local economy.”

Guy Treharne said: “This is the start of the regeneration of this side of Tipton Road and we look forward to working with Dudley Council and the other landowners and stakeholders to rejuvenate the area.

“We hope the scheme will help to radically transform this part of Dudley and bring in badly needed investment.”

A planning application has now been submitted to Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, and it is likely to be considered this autumn.”