Following numerous complaints from nearby residents about inappropriate use of sirens by ambulances exiting the Willenhall ‘Make Ready’ Ambulance Hub at all times of the day and night, my colleague in Short Heath, Lib Dem Cllr Dan Barker arranged for an officer from the Council – the West Locality Manager – to attend a site visit and meet a group of residents affected affected by the sirens on Thursday 17th September.

For those that don’t know, this depot in Ashmore Lake Way was given planning permission to provide maintenance maintenance only to ambulances, not to be regularly used for emergency call-outs. This condition was imposed because of its proximity to residents’ homes.

During the site visit, several ambulances were witnessed using their sirens upon leaving the Hub, suggesting that it was being used for emergency call-outs as residents had argued.

Following discussions between the West Locality Manager and the Team Leader of Walsall Council’s Development Management (Planning & Building Control), the following information has been released:

The Council is aware of the sensitivity of the situation regarding some of the local community and the ambulance hub operation. The Council has opened a new Planning Enforcement Investigation (E20/0168) to investigate residents’ concerns.

Planning Enforcement cases can take time to investigate and collect evidence. The investigation will only focus on the ambulance hub itself. The local Planning Authority has no powers to investigate or pursue enforcement action against users of the public highway, this will be a matter for others.

At this time, Walsall Council will not be sharing any documentation from the previous investigation as a new investigation is commencing.

A formal response will be provided to the current investigation once Walsall Council is able to do so.

The council will need evidence and information from the residents and therefore they are referred back to the original link to register the complaints:

https://go.walsall.gov.uk/planning_and_building_control/report_a_breach_of_a_planning_regulations

Residents will need to input into the investigation directly, as discussed.

So if anyone has been disturbed by the sirens from these ambulances we would encourage them to click on the above link and to feed in their complaint. If you don’t complain, nothing will change!

Dan Barker

Lib.Dem. Cllr for Short Heath