MP calls for concrete barriers blocking travellers to be torn up and replaced
An MP has called for the removal of concrete barriers installed on an estate to protect green spaces from illegal traveller camps.
Marco Longhi said the barriers on the Milking Bank estate in Dudley were a "blot on the landscape" and had become a hotspot for anti-social behaviour.
The Dudley North MP has urged council chiefs to remove the barriers and replace them with "better options" such as timber bollards and wildflowers.
He has also suggested local criminals could be brought in to deliver the project as part of the community payback scheme.
Mr Longhi said he had met with council officers to find a way of "discouraging youths from congregating as well as making the area more visually appealing".
"I understand why these were installed, but there are much better options," he added.
"One solution could be for the area to have wildflowers planted, possibly with timber bollards. This would link in with the council's carbon reduction scheme and would be much more appealing to residents.
“I also suggested that the council could utilise the community payback scheme for offenders, which is designed for community projects like this. It would mean that people previously engaged in anti-social behaviour would be providing the labour to deliver the project."
He added: “I believe a natural barrier to stop incursions will also help tackle the anti-social behaviour issues and that it would add to the biodiversity of the area, which will benefit the environment and own quality of life.
“I look forward to meeting with council officers again soon to see what options will work best for the community."
The barriers are stationed at the bottom of Salisbury Close, Osberton Drive and Wexford Close, at the back of the Meadow Lark pub.
The Milking Bank area had been hit by traveller incursions in recent years, with large groups of caravans pitching up on land near Milking Bank Primary School.
