Stourbridge Tip could stay on site and be expanded

Incoming environment boss Khurshid Ahmed said he would consider keeping the existing tip in Stourbridge open but making it bigger.

Plans to sell off the Stourbridge site and open a new tip at Brierley Hill led to outrage among residents and councillors, amid claims it would have led to gridlock on the roads.

Long-awaited plans to provide an improved tip for the borough could be about to change again after Labour gained control of the council last week.

Councillor Ahmed said 'all options' remained on the table but said he suggested bosses could now favour an expansion of the existing Birmingham Street site.

Both Labour and Conservative-controlled councils have faced a headache about how to solve the borough's need for a bigger tip.

When the Tories were in control, they scrapped Labour's plan to move to the Leys Depot in Brierley Hill, insisting it would create traffic chaos. Now Labour are back in power in Dudley, the plan will have to be looked at again.

Councillor Ahmed said: "There are a few options available at the moment. We need to explore what is already on the cards as well as expanding at Stourbridge.

"We are looking at the financial issues of shifting it. We also want to make it easily accessible so we need to look at the impact that would have.

"It has been going on for many years. If we expand if wouldn't necessarily have a big impact so it needs to be considered carefully. These kind of things need to be looked at, it is too early at the moment."

He added: "We need to be very careful. A lot of people raised concerns about the impact on the road structure there (in Brierley Hill). That is one of the reasons we need to look at expanding."

Last time Labour was in control of the council, chiefs wanted to sell off the Birmingham Street tip in Stourbridge and make the Leys Depot the central base for waste disposal. The plan was later ditched by the Tories, who vowed to review new sites.