CAMPAIGNERS who fought a three year battle against a travellers’ site on a former Coseley waste tip have won a reprieve after a recommendation to begin construction was rejected by councillors. 

The future of the Budden Road project for 40 caravan spaces will now be decided by a meeting of all 72 members of Dudley Council.

The decision is a success for campaigners who collected a petition of almost 1,000 signatures opposing the scheme which was first proposed in 2017.  

Local resident, Tony Sheldon, welcomed the move but warned the final verdict now lies with the full council which is evenly split between Labour and Conservative councillors.

He said: “It’s all down to the the full council now where the Conservatives rely on the casting vote of the mayor but whatever they decide, local people will continue to fight this because the site is contaminated and totally unsuitable.”

The committee’s decision is a setback for council leader  Patrick Harley who announced in January the plan would go ahead despite previously saying the council was no longer interested in using the land.

The council has said the building of a temporary transit site will give it more legal powers to remove unauthorised encampments. 

These include ordering travellers to use the caravan park or leave the borough within two hours.

It has argued it would discourage people coming to Dudley and like Sandwell Council’s facility, be rarely used.  

The site was granted planning permission in 2018 but the project was postponed by Labour party after it took control of the council later that year.

Cllr Harley, Conservative council leader, speaking at last night’s meeting said the site was needed to deal with expected illegal encampments on green spaces during the summer months.  

“If we could avoid using Budden Road that would be ideal and yes I’ve said in the past on more than one occasion, that I would rather not use Budden Road and it’s not in our plans but there has to be an alternative and there isn’t an alternative."

Saying any transit site must be ready for the beginning of the travellers season. he added: “It is simply, physical impossible to have any other site in the borough – that we have identified – ready for that point.”

He added an alternative site on Birmingham Road in Lye was rejected over fears of existing traffic congestion from cars queuing to use the nearby recycling and waste centre would become worse.

Saying choosing another site would lead to a 12 month delay, he added: “Budden Road is the only feasible site that we can use to get ready in for the new traveller season.”

But Labour group leader, Cllr Qadar Zada, said the council’s claims it would be hardly used made no sense: “To have a waste of money –  which is what I think it is – of £280,000 for a site which we will not use for that purpose is a significant waste of public resources.”

He accused the council of ‘fixing’ the decision to use  Budden Road  to prevent it from being cleaned up and used for homes.

“There is a bigger agenda here. This is not solely about a travellers’ site, this is about blocking up every single brownfield housing development site so we are forced out into the green belt.

“The Labour group is not playing along with that game, we are not accepting it.”

Members of the committee rejected a recommendation to proceed with construction and referred the proposal to full council.