WATCH: Angry residents protest £8.5m West Midlands Interchange
Angry residents staged a protest against an £8.5 million rail freight project being built which they say will 'decimate' their community.
The West Midlands Interchange would see a rail terminal cover 800,000 square metres of land with 17 warehouses and service buildings built.
The development is set to be built between junction 12 of the M6, for Gailey, and the main A449 Stafford Road south of the A5.
This week, bosses from Four Ashes Ltd, the company behind the project, held a consultation event at the Haling Dene Centre in Penkridge for local people to give their feedback.
But beforehand, members of the campaign group Stop the Gailey Freight Hub, which now has more than 1,400 people behind it, made their concerns known outside.
Spokesperson for the action group, Debbie Gibson, aged 50, of Croft Lane, said they want the plans scrapped completely.
"We want to make our thoughts known as loudly as possible to the developer", she said.
"It is a consultation day and they're asking for feedback from the public about the proposed development.
"We want to make it known how unhappy about it we are. It's going to absolutely decimate where we live and the whole thing is on green belt land which should be protected.
"It's going to flood the area with traffic and cause lots of problems. We live in Croft Lane, Gailey, and are representing everyone who will be affecting by this development near and far. "
Two options have been presented in the submitted plans, with both covering more than 600 acres of land between Four Ashes, Gailey and J12. Each plan proposes a new roundabout on the A5 and A449.
Under the scheme, a new roundabout would be built between the motorway junction and the Gailey island on the A5.
Another roundabout would then be built between the Gailey island and the Four Ashes crossroads.
Bosses say it will create up to 8,500 jobs in the region.
South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson has slammed the plans and called them 'disgusting'.
He said: "The proposals for the rail freight terminal in the heart of South Staffordshire are absolutely disgusting and will lead to the desecration of the countryside."
Andrea and Geoff Hopkins moved to Croft Lane at Christmas time from South East London to live in the countryside.
Mrs Hopkins said: "We are very disappointed. We moved here to be in the countryside. As far as we're concerned this is our little slice of heaven and we've put all our money into it and we didn't sign up for this.
"I'm all in favour of jobs but it shouldn't be built on green belt land. I think it will bring temporary jobs and specialist jobs not ones for local people."
The Managing Director of Four Ashes Limited, Peter Frost, added: "We're looking to develop a high quality and logistics and distribution warehousing scheme.
"With a rail freight terminal at the core of all the activities it will take off a huge amount of HGVs from the UK's truck roads.
"We're not underestimating the impact that the project will have. We completely understand there will an impact in terms of highways and other issues but we think that the benefits to the region will far outway the negative parts."
