Packaging firm closer to acquiring neighbour’s land

A PACKAGING firm’s controversial plans to build a £15 million expansion on a neighbouring business park have moved a step closer.

Planning officers on Birmingham City Council have recommended Euro Packaging’s proposal for the new industrial unit on Phoenix Business Park, next door to their facility in Tyseley, be granted – despite the fact that 80 people currently work on the site.

The authority’s planning committee is to decide the application on Thursday (July 19).

The proposal has been contentious ever since the council’s cabinet ruled to make a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) of the site at the request of Euro Packaging.

The former landfill is currently occupied by dozens of workers who use it as a storage yard for skips, scaffolding and building materials. Euro Packaging vowed to help them relocate and compensate them financially.

Conservative Cllrs Ken Wood and Simon Morrall had tried unsuccessfully to block the CPO due to a lack of information. One area of dispute was the number of jobs to be created by Euro Packaging’s expansion, which has now been cleared up. It has been confirmed the development will generate up to 302 new positions for Euro Packaging afterthree years.

There are environmental concerns around the current condition and use of the land. Officers concluded: “The proposals are considered to be acceptable in principle and would not have an adverse impact on residential amenity or highway safety.”