Clear up disgraceful pub rubble, says Walsall MP
Calls have been made to clean up the site of a former Walsall pub which is now piled high with rubbish.
Walsall North MP David Winnick is leading the campaign and has said it is 'a disgrace' that the waste has been allowed to build up where the former Leathern Bottle pub once stood.
The pub, in Cresswell Crescent, Mossley, had been targeted by vandals since it closed several years ago.
It was demolished earlier this year following calls from the community to tidy up the site.
However, nothing has been done to move the rubble left there as a result of the demolition and fly-tippers have dumped waste there to add to the problem.
Mr Winnick said: "The Leathern Bottle has been demolished now for some months but as I pointed out in my last letter to the council, the site has not been cleared and is full of rubble.
"The site owners should certainly be strongly urged to complete the job. I would say it is about time a decision is made which would put pressure on those involved to either take proper care of the remnants of the building or have it demolished.
"At the moment, this former public house is vandalised and used on occasions for antisocial purposes. It is a disgrace that it has stayed in its present dilapidated state for so long."
The pub first opened in the 1970s. Police seized drugs and a dangerous dog from the pub in 2009.
When the pub closed, it was earmarked for demolition to make way for a new pub, retail and residential complex under proposals revealed more than two years ago by SEP Properties. Council chiefs said earlier this year they were opening discussions over its long-term use with the owners.
Meanwhile, plans have stalled to turn the nearby former Eagle pub, also on Cresswell Crescent, into 17 one-bedroom flats. MP Winnick added: "As for the former Eagle pub, the discussions seem to go on endlessly between the council and the owners.
"It was some time ago that I was informed about possible redevelopment of the site for residential use but clearly there has been no progress at all."
In 2010, Walsall Council officers rejected plans to turn the Leathern Bottle into shops and two-storey maisonettes after the developer failed to demonstrate why the pub should be lost to the community.
Around this time, several pubs in the Bloxwich area had been lost to developments.
The old Knave of Hearts was turned into a 2,500 sq ft Co-op store.
Walsall Council said they were unable to confirm who owned the land.