Hundreds sign petition against plans for industrial units in Oldbury

Plans have been lodged with Sandwell Council to build the units, which would be used for storage and distribution, on the privately-owned land next to the Asda supermarket.

But residents have raised fears the proposed development would destroy vital wildlife habitats - and a petition launched just over a week ago has attracted 1,179 signatures so far .

Phil Shakespeare, who has launched the petition, said the development would be built on the back of people's homes.

The woodland is located off Wolverhampton Road between the Asda superstore and Langley Primary School and is near to the M5, which runs on a bridge close by.

Mr Shakespeare said: "Myself and fellow residents from Titford Road will be directly affected by these proposals. As a collective group, we decided to start the petition against the plans.

"The online petition has gone viral now. We have been overwhelmed with the response from people.

"We have got an ecology report which has highlighted that there is protected bats, foxes, badgers, herons and buzzards living in the wildlife corridor. It will also be the decimation of all the forest area which filters fumes from the M5 which will be turned into concrete.

"Our petition will be handed into the council before they make their formal decision later this year. We just want to highlight to people what is going on."

A design and access statement, submitted with the application, states: "The proposal is for two industrial units with the associated revised access, parking and landscaping.

"The service yards are located to the north west of the units and include three loading docks and two level access doors adjacent to sides of the loading docks respectively. The service areas includes the HGV parking spaces and allows enough space for vehicle manoeuvring.

"The car parking, including the accessible parking bays and the cycle and motorcycle parking is provided near the office components. There are 63 parking spaces provided in total for the development."

A spokesman from Sandwell Council previously said: "A planning application has been submitted for two industrial storage/distribution units.

“Residents will be receiving consultation letters giving them the opportunity to put any comments or objections in writing.

“The land is not green belt but is allocated for employment. An ecology report has been submitted as part of the planning application, which will be considered by the planning committee if objections are received.”

Residents are now being invited to a meeting on Thursday, August 22, at Crosswells Inn pub, in Whyley Walk, from 8pm, to discuss the proposals and will be attended by Sandwell Council representatives.

Sandwell Council's planning committee is expected to make a decision on the plans in the coming months.

To view the petition, search for 'Oldbury Wildlife Corridor' on www.change.org.