THE owner of a successful car dealership has slammed the council for the decision to reject his planning application with the dispute turning sour.
Gul Nawaz, owner at West Midlands Cars Ltd, has hit out at the council and his neighbours after a slew of complaints were made against his business.
Neighbours say Gul’s premises is overcrowded, with motors spilling out of his property and onto residential streets.
Gul has claimed he helped the local community by ridding the area of “druggies” and providing jobs.
He adds that his cars do not cause an obstruction and says the neighbours complaints are unjustified.
Nine people work at West Midlands Cars on Franchise Street, Wednesbury, who will loose their jobs if the council closes Gul’s dealership.
Gul claimed that the site was formerly used as a sleeping den for “druggies” and his business moving in cleaned the place up.
Speaking today he said: “When we moved in we said we can do this place up and it will be beneficial to the community, all the nearby houses will be safe.
“We put up some nightguards and some security cameras on the premises, we had to hire people with security dogs.”
When the business moved into the area Gul said he was met with hostility: “It was so bad we were actually threatened with being burned down if we didn’t move out.
“We had so many break ins, we called the police, we had cars stolen, windscreens smashed, paint thrown over cars.
“The police have it all on record, we got no help from the police, all we got was an insurance claim. We thought they were telling us to get stuffed.”
After West Midlands Cars moved into the area in 2017 they began operating without the proper planning permission.
The council soon received a number of complaints from locals with cars allegedly overflowing from the premises onto nearby streets and into the neighbouring pub car park.
Gul said: “We are paying about £20-£30k just in VAT to the government.
“I am paying income tax, business rates, doing my utmost best to keep the business running, keep people employed.”
The neighbouring pub, formerly the Forge Tavern, has been in disuse for years with several planning applications to revitalise it being rejected.
Gul applied for planning permission for his dealership in June 2023 but the council rejected it in November 2024 on the grounds that it was “inappropriate” and “to the detriment of residents.”
He has since appealed the decision remaining hopeful that he will be able to keep his business open.
He said: “They’re trying to shut us down for no reason at all.
“They are making complaints about our cars being parked outside of the business, outside our premises on our side of the road.
“They are not causing any obstruction at all.”
Why are so many car dealerships closing down?
By Summer Raemason
According to Business Rescue Expert there are multiple reasons why car dealerships are folding across the UK.
The first major factor is rising online car sales which are beating in-person sales at dealerships.
With an extensive range of comparison and second-hand sites to chose from, may car buyers don’t even step foot into a dealership anymore.
Secondly, the actual cost to physically run the sites has soared.
Rent, wages and energy bills have all been increasing for roughly the past five years, putting many out of pocket.
Car manufacturing across the globe was also hit by a semiconductor chip shortage in 2022 which made it difficult to produce new motors.
The high demand with limited supply created a backlog, which although has eased, is still having an impact on the industry.
A third reason for recent closures is the shift to electric cars.
They are becoming more popular, given the Government initiative to be Net Zero in 2050.
The industry is also affected when companies merge or are bought by rivals.
This may lead to some independent names falling victim to the ongoing spate of closures.
Gul continued: “That abandoned pub, at night time all the thieves and all the druggies sleep in there, the owner is trying to get permission to have that turned into something as well but that’s been denied.
“The owner of the pub approached us to make a deal that we can park our cars in their car park, which is private and doesn’t cause any obstruction, just to have some sort of presence there to stop the druggies being there.”
He added: “They (the neighbours) started to complain to the council that we are obstructing, which is absolutely nonsense.
“We applied once they rejected it, now I have to hire another person.
“He’s charging £15,000, which I don’t have, to appeal to the council again.
“We are well within our rights, we’ve got nine people working here, we’re trying to save their jobs, if the council shut us down where are they going to go?
“The council are not human or are not in the real world, they are on kushy jobs and we pay their wages, they’re trying to shut us down for no reason at all.”
A Sandwell Council spokesperson said: “The car sales operation is an unauthorised development which is mainly surrounded by homes.
“Planning permission was refused in November 2024 because of the impact of the development on local residents and congestion on the road network caused by parked vehicles.
“The council served an enforcement notice on 18 December 2024 requiring the owner to stop this unauthorised activity and move vehicles and associated equipment by 18 May 2025.
“The owner has appealed, and the matter is now with the Planning Inspectorate for a decision.”
