Ridgeacre / Black Lake: The Forgotten Lake Where Accountability Goes to Die
Welcome to Ridgeacre – Sandwell Council’s unofficial environmental sacrifice zone.
A place so neglected that if it deteriorates any further, archaeologists may need to get involved. Not because there’s anything historic under the muck, but because nobody in authority appears to have visited since dial-up internet was still a thing.
Let’s be clear: Ridgeacre / Black Lake should be an asset.
It sits next to a canal branch, beside a Premier Inn, behind a large pub-restaurant, on a Metro route, bordering a nature conservation site, and within walking distance of thousands of residents.
On paper, it’s exactly the kind of place councils love to mention in Local Plans, regeneration brochures and “vision statements.”
In reality?
It’s a landfill with a water feature.
A catalogue of decline nobody wants to own
Recent visits show:
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fly-tipping plastered across the car park and access road
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dumped tyres, bottles, cans, fast-food waste and household rubbish
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stagnant water with debris floating like it’s auditioning for a disaster documentary
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visibly distressed wildlife
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blocked drainage and polluted runoff
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no sign of enforcement, management or responsibility
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a canal branch that looks abandoned despite being a CRT asset
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pub and hotel grounds that appear to exist in a state of managerial denial
Residents take photos.
Residents send emails.
Residents complain.
Residents organise clean-ups.
And the authorities?
They specialise in one thing — passing the buck until the buck decomposes.
The multi-agency merry-go-round
Let’s see who should be responsible:
Sandwell Council
Recognise the site in planning documents, call it sensitive, then vanish when rubbish is reported.
Environment Agency
Know it exists because it appears in a flood-risk spreadsheet somewhere. But routine water testing? Investigation? No comment.
Severn Trent
Have dug up half of Hill Top fixing collapsed sewers and mysterious blockages… yet somehow never reach the basin where the water ends up.
Canal & River Trust
Responsible for the Ridgacre Branch Canal — in theory. In practice, the towpath looks like it’s been left to “rewild” itself in protest.
Whitbread (Ridgacre Pub & Premier Inn)
Sell a lovely “lakeside location”, but only in their brochure. Real-life guests get the “post-apocalyptic wetlands” package at no extra cost.
Riverside / Axis / Ramscapes
PFI estate management with expectations of high standards. Shame the standards seem to evaporate when rubbish migrates toward the canal.
The result?
A site with:
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no leadership
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no accountability
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no management plan
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no enforcement
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no urgency
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no pride
Ridgeacre deserves better.
Wildlife deserves better.
Residents deserve better.
What it currently gets is a masterclass in institutional shrugging.
What needs to happen now
Enough buck-passing. Here’s the minimum:
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A multi-agency task group led by Sandwell Council
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Water-quality testing and pollution tracing
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Drainage investigation by Severn Trent
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New bins and signage
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Tougher enforcement on fly-tipping
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Whitbread taking responsibility for its land
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CRT committing to towpath and waterbody maintenance
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PFI estate management addressing litter migration
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Regular joint inspections
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Publication of a formal site management plan
This is not rocket science.
It is basic environmental stewardship.
And Ridgeacre is currently a case study in what happens when every organisation points upwards, sideways or downwards — but never inward.
If the council wants to talk “pride in the borough”… start here.
Until then, Ridgeacre will remain exactly what it is today:
➡️ the place where accountability goes to die
➡️ a dumping ground behind a hotel
➡️ a wildlife hazard
➡️ an embarrassment in plain sight
But not forgotten.
Not anymore.
#Ridgeacre #BlackLake #Sandwell #Environment #FlyTipping #Pollution #WildlifeWelfare #SandwellCouncil #CanalAndRiverTrust #SevernTrent #Whitbread #PremierInn #Accountability #CommunityAction #WestMidlands
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