CRADLEY residents will be aware we have had repeated promises from the council of “compulsory purchase” to deal with the multi-owner, ongoing, eyesore in Colley Gate, from Colley Lane to Maple Tree Lane.

Last year, we heard of plans for new shops. We also heard there was potential for a state-of-the-art doctors’ surgery. Either would have been wonderful.

However, because the council has failed to grasp the nettle and ensure one of these plans reached fruition, the site seems destined for more decades of squalor.

The planning committee compared these shops to Victorian slums and Councillor James instructed officers to “ensure” they gave every assistance to the applicant. Instead, the council has offered little support and now he has all but given up and instead is planning to reopen one of the existing shops, leaving the rest in slum like condition.

This is not a political rant. This debacle was ongoing during the Conservative management of the council. They did absolutely nothing for Cradley and Labour has matched them every inch of the way since they took power.

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