Flats plan for antisocial behaviour-plagued road
A new apartment block is finally going to be built on land plagued with drug taking and anti-social behaviour issues.
The proposal for nine flats, put forward by M Josebury and Partners, will be erected on the site at the corner of Arkwright Road and Edison Road in Beechdale, Walsall.
Ward councillors Lee Jeavons and Tina Jukes said they hoped the development would go some way to tackling a raft of problems residents have had to put up with in the area.
This includes drug dealing and taking, youngsters tearing around on dirt bikes, fly-tipping and other anti-social behaviour issues.
Proposals were first put forward for the land back in 2005 and a plan for a 12-apartment building was put forward two years ago.
But development was thwarted by planning officers for a number of reasons including the size of the building, lack of parking spaces and the loss of public open space in the area.
Councillor Jeavons said the developers had reduced the size of the block and made other alterations to address planners concerns and added there was a large play area and park nearby on Lister Close, which people can use.
He said: “I’ve been a councillor for 10 years and one of the first pieces of casework that came along was this site.
“There was fly-tipping, anti-social behaviour for kids using dirt bikes, drug dealing and drug taking going on.
“Some residents are saying there is still some anti-social behaviour going on and people have had their fences kicked in not long ago.
“Building these properties will minimise anti-social behaviour and it will secure the site. In our view, it would solve a number of problems making it desirable to build this.”
He added: “This is on bus and cycle routes. It would provide properties that people can downsize into and releasing homes for families locally.
“I’ve had a lot of local families come to me saying they wanted to downsize and stay on Beechdale while others want to move into bigger properties. So I believe there is a local need here.”
Councillor Jukes said there have been regular clean-ups of needles and drug paraphernalia from the land and welcomed this plan.
She said: “It provides much needed-living space on the Beechdale and resolves anti-social behaviour issues that currently exist on the site.”
