Plan to build 100 homes on towering Dudley rubbish pile site
Frustrated residents could finally be free of a towering pile of rubbish which has blighted their community for six years after plans to build nearly 100 homes on the site were revealed.
Developers have submitted plans for a housing scene on the land in Moor Street, Brierley Hill.
The mountain of waste at the former Refuse Derived Fuel Ltd industrial fuel yard once reached 40ft.
Company director Robert McNaughton was jailed in December 2013 for failing to remove it.
People living nearby have been demanding a clean-up since 2009.
The jail sentence appeared to have brought an end to the saga, but a 19ft-high pile still remains in Moor Street more than a year on.
But now developer J and V Kelly Ltd has submitted plans for 94 flats on the land.
The agent acting on its behalf, Marson Rathbone Taylor Architects, said the development would rid the area of an 'appalling site' and 'replenish' the area.
A design and access statement submitted with the plans said: "The site has become under utilised allowing the waste pile to gradually become larger, causing a nuisance and health hazard to the site and local area.
"Due to the misuse of the land, the pile of rubbish has caused disturbances to the local people and started a campaign to remove the rubbish.
"The appalling site has become a huge problem and needs to be removed, the Environmental Agency is now involved and the problem is acknowledged by the people responsible for the site."
Ward councillor Rachel Harris, who has led the campaign to clear the waste pile, said she was 'optimistic' the plan would bring the residents' nightmare to an end.
She said: "From the views that people have given us, they want the land along Moor Street be a mixed use of housing and industry.
"This is a good sign as far as I'm concerned because it shows somebody is listening to what people want. We do need good-quality housing in the area.
"Clearly there are a lot of factors to consider like if the developer will be prepared to take it (the rubbish pile) on. I'm hopeful they will.
"It has gone on for far too long. It has been there so long vegetation has grown on it, and it is costing the council money having to monitor the site.
"We must get a solution for that site."
Councillor Harris said people living near the site had suffered for too long.
"People are just so fed up with it, they must be really disheartened," she said.
