Express & Star

Order to clean up Willenhall 'grot spot'

Owners of a 'grot spot' former pub site have been ordered to clean up the site by council chiefs.

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The site of the former Cavalcade pub, Stroud Avenue

Land at the former Cavalcade pub on Stroud Avenue, Willenhall, have been hit with a section 215 notice, demanding that the land is tidied up.

The pub was demolished in 2010, with plans to build homes on the site approved last year.

However, despite fencing going up around the site and portacabins being set up at the start of the year, the project has stalled.

The fencing has come down over the summer and once again, vandals and fly-tippers have targetted the site, prompting Walsall Council to serve the notice, which asks that the land is cleared up within 28 days of receipt.

Councillor Ian Shires, who represents the Willenhall North ward where the pub once stood, said: "The site has been a problem for some time.

"When the plans were approved last year to build houses on the site and then the fencing went up we all thought finally something was going to be done.

"But now that has stalled and we are back to square one.

"Fly-tippers think it is fine to leave rubbish there because it isn't being used but the fact is they shouldn't do that and it should be being used right now.

"It is sad on two levels really.

"Residents are angry that the site has become a bit of a grot spot and have asked why the council haven't cleaned it up but why should we spend taxpayers money cleaning up a privately owned site.

"The enforcement action is a positive step and I hope it is complied with or the landowner will find himself in court."

The site has been plagued by anti-social behaviour and become a target for fly-tipping.

Residents have long called for the ‘eyesore’ site to be redeveloped since the pub was demolished around five years ago.

A previous scheme earmarked for the site, which would have seen houses and supported living apartments built, was mooted in 2010 but never came to fruition.

The successful plans, which laid out a vision for 33 apartments at the site, were approved on April 14 2016 after being submitted by Mr Bob Dhanda to Walsall Council.

According to plans, the work would have 'provided a welcome boost to the local property market'.