Anger over site hit by travellers

A councillor is calling for action to develop the site of a former Willenhall box-making factory which is now derelict and has become a magnet for travellers.

Travellers set up camp on the derelict Willenhall Box site in Spring Lane last week. They have now moved on but have left a mess behind them. The former factory has been a constant target for vandals since it closed several years ago and Councillor Sean Coughlan said residents living opposite the site were desperate for the eyesore to be cleaned up.

But developers have problems with the site. They want to build homes on the land but only have permission for industrial use.

In the meantime the building remains derelict and plagued by vandalism and the site is open and easy for travellers to invade.

Councillor Creaney said: “The site really is an eyesore. The people living opposite are sick and tired of it.

“Something needs to be done to clean up the site. The factory has been targeted for some time now by vandals.

“Developers are struggling to use the land as they haven’t got permission to build residential properties on it. But we are looking into it to see if changes can be made.

“I think it is the best interests of everyone to get that site cleaned up.”

Councillor Coughlan has called for an out-of-hours service to be introduced to deal with issues such as travellers moving onto derelict sites after a group set up camp at the former Lakeside Primary School in Holman Close at the start of last month.

Police were on the scene quickly but were unable to do anything as they needed Walsall Council, which owns the land, to be in attendance to issue enforcement action.

It is not known if the travellers are in a group which have been setting up regular camps across Wolverhampton over the last 12 months. The 46th illegal camp in a year was set up in the city when caravans moved onto land on Prosser Street, Bilston, last week.