Shortlist of potential Dudley traveller sites revealed
A controversial shortlist of locations for a travellers holding camp in Dudley has been revealed, with councillors warning it will spark a backlash.
Sites in Coseley, Gornal and Lye have been earmarked as potential locations to house travellers.
Dudley Council is looking to build a site in the borough to help reduce the number of illegal camps and has used a scoring system against each plot to find the most suitable, with disused council-owned land on Budden Road in Coseley coming out on top.
Four potential sites have been found in Lye, while there are three in Coseley, and one each in Lower Gornal, Withymoor and Dudley town centre.
The shortlist, ranked in order, is:
Budden Road, Coseley
Land at Bott Lane, Lye
Former Helix Factory, Bott Lane, Lye
Webb Street, Coseley
Blowers Green Road, Dudley
Thorns Road, Lye
Fountain Lane/Budden Road, Coseley
Clinic Drive in Lye
Delph Lane, Withymoor
The Straits, Gornal
Coseley East ward councillor Melvyn Mottram said: “A transit site in Coseley will cause a backlash and anger from residents and quite rightly too.
"I know we need one in the borough but myself and fellow ward councillor Susan Ridney will be opposing this strongly.”
Council leader Councillor Patrick Harley, said: “I understand the identification of a proposed site may cause concern among residents, so we will be holding events in the community to explain why the site is required.
"But I do feel that due to the increasing number of incursions over recent years, we really do need to do something now to stop so many of our parks and open spaces being targeted by travellers.”
Figures show there have been 56 illegal camps in the past three years costing £450,000 in clean-up and eviction costs.
There were 20 illegal camps in 2015/16 and 2016/17 and there have been 16 so far in 2017/2018.
