Builders put Burntwood homes on hold after second bomb found
Building work on a new housing estate in Burntwood has been halted after two unexploded bombs were discovered in less than three weeks.
A full sweep of the site off Milestone Way will be carried out on Monday, the developers have said.
An unexploded device was also found at the end of February during development works on an adjacent industrial site on the same piece of land.
In a joint statement, developers Taylor Wimpey and Barrett Homes, said: "A single mortar was found on Thursday on an, as yet, undisturbed section of site and dealt with via a controlled explosion managed by the MoD.
"As a result, the groundworks in this area have been temporarily halted and the site will be fully surveyed on Monday by a specialist investigator.
"Areas of the development where housebuilding has begun are unaffected, and the groundworks will recommence when we are satisfied that it is safe to do so."
ES Smith, a firm that recovered war weapons, used to be based on the site.
If no more unexploded bombs are found during the sweep next week, building work will start again.
Burntwood Town Councillor Darren Ennis said: "To people I spoke to about this, it felt to them like the developers didn't care.
"Once people understand what's happening, especially now that things are being done, it's not as bad. There are procedures in place and they've stopped digging now until experts have looked into it.
"The mortar they found on Thursday was the only one they've found on that site – the other was on a nearby industrial unit. The developers have done everything they were supposed to do.
"We've had the MOD out to the site four times. If they were concerned about dangers, they would have shut down the site before now."
But Councillor Sue Woodward said more needs to be done to find out why these armaments were not discovered in the early planning stages.
"It seems to me that they have to make further investigations, not just to ensure the safety of local residents but of the people working on the site," she said.
"What I can't understand is that before a planning application goes through they're supposed to decontaminate the area. That can mean anything to getting rid of oil and asbestos, but ordinance is quite a difference order of things. I'm surprised that wasn't done beforehand, given its history.
"You have to worry about the safety. It needs confirmation that that sort of check was done beforehand and how thorough it was. I'm asking if these checks were done and what needs to be done now to ensure safety of local residents and drivers along a very busy stretch of road."
Plans submitted for the housing development acknowledge that it was used for storage of weaponry.
It says: "The site was temporarily used as a store for spent munitions in the late 1940s and early 1950s."
The plans go on to say that the munitions were since cleared.
The Burntwood Manor site will contain 351 homes, made up of a selection of two-bedroom apartments and two, three and four-bedroom houses.
