Dudley travellers site could cost £280,000
A temporary travellers transit site in the Black Country could cost up to £280,000, it has been revealed.
A meeting of Dudley Council's Place Scrutiny Committee saw outbursts from members of the public and ward councillors who were disputing the safety of the preferred Budden Road site in Coseley while the matter was discussed.
The plans would see the three-year temporary site built for early summer 2018.
At the meeting, strategic director Alan Lunt said: "We do estimate the cost of providing this transit centre in the region of £280,000.
"The cost of dealing with travellers each year is in the region of £150,000, so over three years you could either spend £450,000 chasing travellers around the borough and dealing with the aftermath of incursions.
"If the evidence of Sandwell is anything to go by, it will be a site that is very rarely, if ever, used.
"It is intended to be a temporary site, for three years, and I believe I mentioned May because usually the travelling season starts around May and June, and it's for that reason we were keen to ensure we had a travelling site in place by the time the travelling season started in 2018."
The committee met to determine the basis for the need for a transit site, the criteria utilised to score prospective sites, and the reason why Budden Road in Coseley was selected as the preferred site.
Many chose to voice their opposition at the meetings – with residents claiming they had experienced 'trouble with travellers' in the past.
Speaking at the meeting, a resident said: "We don't want it to be in Central Drive, we've had trouble with travellers before and we don't want it any more.
"We're really against this travellers site."
Ward councillors also weighed in on the proposals, claiming other sites could be used.
Coseley East ward councillor Melvyn Mottram added: "It's in council ownership, there are other places in council ownership that could be used.
"Whether we like travellers or whether we don't, there are good travellers and bad travellers, the same as there are good residents and bad residents, but at the end of the day they are human beings and you have to to think about their health the same."
There was a split vote of five for and five against, with committee chair Matt Rogers recommending the Budden Road site as the favoured site, subject to it being signed off by highways reporting favourably on access and an approval on contamination levels.
It comes after council leader Patrick Harley said the mess that some traveller groups leave behind costs the council £150,000 a year to clean up.
