Key land in Walsall offered to waste firms
The former site of a historic brass firm and land next to Showcase Cinemas could be turned into waste treatment and recycling plants, it has emerged.
The sites could be expected to deal with more than 100,000 tons of waste each year, according to the plans by Walsall Council.
They are among several locations in the borough being brought to the attention of potential waste operators.
They include the site of the former historic McKechnie Brass firm in Aldridge, which made brass rods and copper wires for building, engineering and electrical industries but collapsed with debts of £3.8 million and 60 job losses in 2013.
A site near to Showcase Cinema in Bentley Mill Way has been highlighted, along with others at the old Wesson site in Moxley and the Phoenix 10 site, off the M6.
An action plan drawn up by the council states: "(The) Delivery of new waste facilities on the potential waste sites will depend on whether there is a market demand for them."
It said that plans to develop waste treatment and recycling facilities on other employment sites and previously developed land would also be considered by the council.
Walsall Council leader Mike Bird said: "We are looking at the future use of land over the next 10 years. We are looking at these sites and these are the prospective uses they could have. This is a consultation document."
The Black Country Core Strategy has set the authority targets to provide new recycling, composting and energy recovery capacity over the next decade.
According to documents drawn up by the council, there are more than a dozen waste treatment and recycling facilities operating in the borough. The plans state that any new waste treatment and transfer facilities will normally be expected to be enclosed either within a building or fenced enclosure. It comes as work on a new multi-million pound waste and energy plant in Walsall, which will create 300 jobs, is poised to finally start next year.
Work on the BH Energy Gap plant, which would treat 300,000 tons of rubbish every year, is due to get under way at the site off Fryers Road near Bloxwich with the plant becoming operational within three years. Fifty permanent posts will be created when the eight acre site near Beechdale is open.
