Business boss's fury at traveller site plan for old scrapyard
A storage business boss has hit out at controversial plans for a traveller camp in the Dudley borough.
Denise McCarron, boss of self-storage firm Cradley Enterprise Centre Ltd, said her company could lose business if the camp earmarked for the former Saltbrook Scrap Yard is built.
The plans would see two residential pitches, which include a touring caravan, mobile home and dayroom, built along with six transit pitches with a utility block and parking facilities at the site off Saltbrook Road, on the outskirts of Lye and Quarry Bank.
Ms McCarron said: “We are directly opposite the proposed site.
"We have spent more than £1.5 million on our two sites here in Maypole Fields over the last two years, so are dismayed by the potential of a travellers site right by us.
“If this consent goes through, we will not only lose business but the area will suffer from a lack of new start-ups and consequently employment opportunities.
“We are further concerned by the traffic situation on a crossroads which is already a problem, with many minor accidents occurring – which will only be made worse with the addition of lorries and caravans.”
Ms McCarron also raised concerns over what could happen to the river the proposed traveller site backs onto.
More than 100 start-up or small businesses operate from the firm, on Maypole Fields.
The comments came after scores of objections were submitted to Dudley Council days after the application was published online, with concerned residents hitting out.
One wrote: “As a lifelong resident of Quarry Bank, this has to be the worst proposal I have heard in the last 50 years.
“The sense of community Quarry Bank has to offer is second to none, bringing this into the vicinity will not only alienate existing residents but put future residents off moving to the area.”
Another said the site would be ‘extremely detrimental to the area’.
They said: “Crime will rise, house prices will drop. It will cause a massive environmental problem.”
Dudley Council confirmed it was not its application but the applicant behind the scheme has not been revealed.
