Express & Star

More Dudley sites lined up for new tip

Council bosses have revealed they are looking at sites ‘across the borough’ for a new tip in Dudley.

Published
Councillor Karen Shakespeare

Plans to move waste operations to a central depot in Leys Road, Brierley Hill, were scrapped last year.

Cabinet member Karen Shakespeare has confirmed the council is now considering alternatives for a new main waste centre.

The results of the review will be confirmed in the next few months, she added.

Councillor Shakespeare, cabinet member for environment, said: "Council officers have come up with a number of sites and we are looking at those options.

“We will be putting forward a report with those options later this summer.

“We have been looking at sites across the borough that are more viable and don’t have the problems that the Leys depot did in terms of access and traffic.

“That wasn’t an option so we dismissed it. It wasn’t viable or practical and the traffic and infrastructure was poor.

"It has given us time to look at a variety of options rather than just go with that one."

The former Labour ruling group wanted to sell off the Birmingham Street tip in Stourbridge and make the Leys Depot the central base for waste disposal.

But that plan was rejected when Conservatives took charge of the council last year.

They raised concerns about an increase on traffic on major roads near the Merry Hill shopping centre and potential impact on a nearby nature reserve.

Objecting to the proposals, Gornal Tory councillor Anne Millward said getting to the heart of Brierley Hill would have turned into 'an absolute nightmare' if the Leys plan had progressed.