Residents kept waiting over sleeper factory appeal decision
Residents are being kept in limbo over the future of a controversial sleeper factory as Network Rail said it had not set a deadline for deciding whether it will appeal a ruling rejecting the scheme.
Network Rail has stayed silent since it said it would assess its options when Sandwell Council refused its bid to build the factory at the Bescot sidings freight yard on the Wednesbury-Walsall over environmental concerns.
A separate plan from West Midlands Trains to build a electric trains depot on the same site was revealed this week.
Network Rail said it was aware of the proposals and as they are on another part of the site the two were not in competition.
It potentially means neighbours could be lumbered with both developments.
The rejection of the development, which would have seen 600,000 sleepers a year produced at the sidings, delivered a huge blow to Network Rail, which insists it is crucial for the future of the UK's rail network.
Officials said it would "bring millions of pounds to the local economy and support hundreds of jobs in the West Midlands" but there was a huge backlash from residents, whose complaints were supported by prominent politicians including Tom Watson and his successor as MP for West Bromwich East Nicola Richards.
When approached by the Express & Star, Network Rail said the situation hadn't change and there was still no decision on whether an appeal would be lodged with the independent Planning Inspectorate, taking the decision out of the local authority's hands.
Carol White, from the Wednesbury Action Group, which has so far successfully fended off the sleeper factory plans, remains hopeful the factory will never be built, even if there is an appeal
She said: "If that comes here it is going to be a travesty, with the pollution it will cause and all the schools nearby.
"I really can't see it coming off. There are more than 6,000 people behind us now."
