Blackbrook residents have continued to express their anger at the state of the former Yates garage site on Merton Bank Road.

Although the area has been cleared initially, it wasn’t cleared to an acceptable standard and residents have been contacting Councillor Anthony Burns raising their concerns.

Anthony says: “This site is an absolute disgrace, and I really feel for the residents who have had to put up with this next to their homes. Following the initial clear up it was clear that it was not done to an acceptable standard so I have pressed officers to do all they can to address this urgently on behalf of the residents. I made it clear with officers that the council need to use every power available with regards to enforcement and I am pleased to say that a notice  of enforcement action has been issues to  the landowner today. This will then commence the 28 day period for the landowner to clear the site, if the notice is not complied with I will make sure that the Council will continue to pursue all enforcement action open to us.

In addition, I have brought this matter to the attention of the council’s Director Of Growth in the senior leadership team who will personally monitor the enforcement action to ensure we put the full might of the Council behind taking this matter forward.

Finally, I would like to thank all of the residents for their hard work and commitment in getting this site cleared up in the first place.”

Anthony and the local Labour team will continue to ask council officers to investigate what can be done legally within the confines of the legislation with regards to the building and council officers will continue to undertake further site visits to implement action.

We will keep on pressing this matter and will do all we can to ensure they explore every available avenue to get this area cleaned up.