Furious
Leamington residents are mounting a high-profile protest campaign against the possible
relocation of a scrap metal yard.
The plan to move Mercia Metals from its Wise Street base to a site close to Avenue Road
has angered residents of the street as they claim they were not consulted.
Warwick District Council did produce a newsletter which gave the location of a display
board detailing the proposals, but it seems this was not sent to Avenue Road.
Now residents of the road have hit back by forming a residents committee with the
objective of ensuring that the move does not go ahead.
Momentum is gaining for the Avenue Road Residents Association, whose membership has
swelled to over 60 after an appearance on television’s Central News last week.
The committee also protested on the steps of Leamington Town Hall today against the
plans, which they claim will bring traffic congestion and noise problems to their area.
Committee chairman Roger Hobbins believes that the council’s failure to properly
identify the people affected by the problem is the root cause of the confusion.
He said:
"We did not realise we were part of the Old Town proposals, as we understood it
was around Wise Street and the former gas works area. It never occurred to us there would
be knock on implications.
"We think the council should reconsider its proposals because of the detrimental
effect it will have on this area."
Mercia Metals managing director Bob McGee says his firm is perfectly happy where they
are.
"We have not done a single thing to try and make this move happen.
"We have a nice site here and are quite prepared to stay. Because we have a
canal-side frontage the council obviously see it as a good development opportunity, so are
pushing for us to move.
"I think they are looking to redevelop as they have done on the old gas-works
opposite, but at the end of the day we have to have somewhere to go."
