A DISUSED hospital site in Cookley which became a magnet for metal thieves could be transformed into a huge housing development.

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is looking to turn the site of the former Lea Castle Hospital into residential development, including 600 homes, offices and potentially a small local shop or café.

Wyre Forest District Council bosses approved a screening application which was submitted by the HCA, meaning they don’t believe it will have any significant effects on the environment.

A public consultation event will be held later this year, prior to the submission of an outline planning application for the proposals.

The Lea Castle Hospital – a mental health unit - treated and assessed more than 600 people in its heyday in the 1960s and boasted facilities including a hydrotherapy pool and dental clinic.

The centre closed its doors in 2008 despite campaigning from groups including the Lea Castle Action Group. The site was run by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust and employed 187 people before the closure was announced.

Trust bosses had decided to close the site following a public consultation. The future of the hospital site had been uncertain for many years, with rumours circulating that it could be redeveloped as a science business park, a prison or a traveller’s site.

It also became a target for metal thieves and the Shuttle reported in 2013 how residents were worried by the use of the site for police exercises.

A spokesman from HCA said: “The Lea Castle site to the north of Kidderminster is a former hospital complex in the greenbelt, which already has an allocation in Wyre Forest’s Site Allocations and Policies Local Plan to meet housing needs in the area.

“The land is owned by the Homes and Communities Agency and we are currently preparing an outline planning application for the site to allow housing-led redevelopment and are discussing this application with the Local Planning Authority before submitting it to them.

“We are developing the detail of the plan for the site and it is anticipated that we will consult local people on the proposals over the next couple of months.”

Wyre Forest MP, Mark Garnier, said it was good the “uncertainty” over the site seemed to be coming to an end.

He said: “Local residents have been worried about it becoming a prison or a site for travellers.

“With sympathetic and careful planning, this could be a welcome development for the district.”

Cookley councillor Gordon Yarranton said: “We need to see the planning application when it is submitted before we can fully assess it.

“Then we can judge the impact it will have and whether the area has the infrastructure in terms of school places, medical services and public transport links needed to accommodate a scheme of this size.

“But the most important views will be those of the residents and businesses in the area.

“They will have the chance to take part in the consultation and it will be our job as councillors to represent them fully at committee.”