Jobs would be lost and businesses face closure if Brownhills Business Park was redeveloped to make way for homes, a planning inquiry heard today.

Jobs would be lost and businesses face closure if Brownhills Business Park was redeveloped to make way for homes, a planning inquiry heard today.

A car repair firm boss told the hearing which will decide the future of the site it would cost £1 million to relocate if the transformation went ahead.

Mick Wilcox of Wilcox Refinishers said the proposals could possibly lead to the closure of the firm and up to 35 people made redundant.

He explained that he could not afford to move because of the huge cost. Plans to turn the industrial park into a housing estate were rejected by Walsall Council last year.

Officers had recommended the approval of the plan for 89 homes at the Lindon Road site but changed their minds at the last minute. The go-ahead for the proposals would have seen around 10 firms leave the site with dozens of jobs in the balance.

Owners of the park, Ashtenne Industrial Fund have taken the matter to a public inquiry, which is being held at the town hall this week.

Mr Wilcox, aged 67, insisted: “Relocating my business would have a total cost of £1 million.”

He said machines for respraying cost £200,000 a piece and the business had four of them.

He told the hearing if the plans went ahead: “I would have to close the business and subsequently my workforce made redundant.”

Planning Inspector Gareth Symons is expected to listen to evidence for most of this week. He will then go away to consider the decision.

Other traders previously raised concerns. Brian Griffin, of B & C Trading, operating an ebay warehouse, said the application had thrown the company’s future plans into doubt.