PLANS to develop a travellers transit site in Coseley have officially been given the green light after years of fractious debate.

Councillors voted by 35 to 33 to approve the proposal to develop the site on Budden Road during Monday's full council meeting.

The plan, which was first mooted in 2016, has been the subject of much debate between councillors in their bid to find a suitable location for travellers arriving in the borough.

The scheme cleared its final hurdle at the meeting, where a proposal for the site to be 'implemented with immediate effect' was passed by two votes.

The plan was previously called in by Labour councillors on the Place Scrutiny Committee due to concerns the site had been chosen again after being thrown out by the previous Labour administration in early 2019.

Coseley East councillors Sue Ridney and Bec Gentle voiced their opposition to the location, which has also been heavily criticised by nearby residents.

Cllr Ridley said the land is too close to residents' homes, nearby roads will not be able to cope and also repeated concerns that the land is allegedly contaminated.

She told the chamber there has not been a traveller incursion in Coseley for the past ten years.

The pressure was on for Dudley to secure a transit site, as neighbouring Sandwell has a site in place and Wolverhampton and Walsall are also looking at potential locations, putting the borough at risk of displacement of unauthorised encampments from elsewhere in the Black Country.

Dudley Council currently spends around £150,000 a year on legal fees and clean-up costs following unauthorised traveller incursions.

Work on the temporary site is set to the start on the site imminently.