Coseley travellers site plan scrapped by Dudley Council

Dudley Council had previously approved plans for the temporary site on disused council-owned land off Budden Road – despite residents outrage at the site being unsuitable.

But the plans had been put on hold since Labour took control from the Conservatives last year, as they looked to carry out their own review.

Now council leader Qadar Zada has announced he has scrapped plans for Budden Road – deeming the site completely unsuitable.

He also hit out at the former administration for being ‘totally inadequate’ in the work undertaken around the site and said their review detailed a ‘systematic failure’ in addressing the issue.

Councillor Zada said the authority is now proposing a range of measures to help resolve traveller incursions in Dudley including identifying a permanent site and enforcing a borough-wide injunction against travellers.

He said he will also work to improve the safety of vulnerable sites in the borough, as well as bringing in dedicated enforcement officers.

He will also be writing to Mayor Andy Street asking him to press the Government to enable a West Midlands Combined Authority wide use of transit sites.

Councillor Zada said: “Budden Road doesn’t solve the problem. If it solved the problem we would have no objection about using it as a travellers site.

“What we have signed up to is a permanent solution and that is what we will look to pursue. Having Budden Road would not solve this problem permanently – in fact we would probably get a maximum of 12 months usage out of it then we would still have this problem.

"Spending £300,000 of tax payers money to do that is not good value for money.

"The lack of work they [previous administration] have done to solve the problem, I think they have taken on an obsession with Budden Road and forgetting about what the exam question was – it has always been how do you resolve the challenge of having traveller encampments.

"What I would call their work is totally inadequate and what they have left is an intolerable mess – that we will clear up for them.

"This administration is committed to a permanent travellers site in the borough because we believe that is one of several different approaches needed to be taken to managed unauthorised encampments in Dudley."

Opposition leader Patrick Harley said Councillor Zada’s new proposals were ‘doomed for failure’.

Councillor Harley said: “We will be bringing back the plans for a temporary travellers transit site for Budden Road when we get back into power in May.”

"These proposals show Councillor Zada's lack of political knowledge of the local area, vast inexperience and lack of political backbone."

The new proposals will be discussed at Dudley Council's cabinet meeting on February 11.