Hammerwich villagers vow to fight against Lichfield greenbelt plans

This is the vow from residents in Hammerwich as plans to build 250 homes on greenbelt land go out to public consultation today (MON).

An action group has been formed to fight against the plans for land south of Highfields Road, with concerns over the extra traffic going through the village and the erosion of greenbelt land.

Residents hope they will be able to take thousands of letters of complaint to Lichfield District Council in the coming months and get the plans thrown out.

Hammerwich resident Dave King is heading up the action group against the plans, which is linked to the Burntwood action group which too is having to fight against plans for dozens of homes proposed for greenbelt land east of Coulter Lane.

He said: "We are prepared for the fight. We have taken a lot of advice from an expert on planning and in the first instance we are going to make everybody in the village aware of the plans.

"Next we are going to pen a letter which residents will be able to sign and give back to us, with the idea we will be able to take them, possibly thousands, to Lichfield District Council.

"It has not been that long but I am yet to meet a single resident who thinks the homes are a good idea. The whole village will come up against it."

Quizzed on why this large piece of greenbelt land had been earmarked for development, Councillor Ian Pritchard, Lichfield District Council's cabinet member for economic growth, development and environment said: "Following the detailed analysis we have found that some of the urban sites will not be deliverable for development within the plan’s timescale.

"Where a settlement has not met its housing number requirement within the urban area, there are proposed allocations beyond the settlement boundary with new development boundaries defined."

The plans for the homes are part of the council's local plan allocations, which go out to public consultation on Monday.

Amongst others, the allocations look at how many homes need to be built in certain areas and highlights sites it thinks are suitable.

Councillor Pritchard said: “It’s important that everyone gets engaged in the planning process and takes a look at our proposals and gives their views.

“We will consider all of the comments as part of the next stage in the process, and then we’ll send them to the independent planning inspector who will inspect the Local Plan Allocations along with any feedback.

“We hope plenty of people will take the opportunity to join us at the events, as they will be a good opportunity to talk through the proposals and find out how to give your views.”

As part of the consultation, which runs until May 12, the council is running a series of events across the district that are open to anyone, where planners will be on hand to talk through the proposals and answer questions. The council will also be putting on two small exhibitions at Lichfield and Burntwood libraries.

Events are taking place across the district but locally there will be one at the Old Mining College Centre on Queen Street in Chasetown on Monday April 3. The event will run from 3.30pm to 6.30pm.

The Local Plan Allocations document and supporting technical reports will be available to view in reception of Lichfield District Council’s Frog Lane offices in Lichfield throughout the consultation period.

To read the Local Plan Allocations and find out how to give your comment online visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/allocations.

The deadline to comment is by 5pm on Friday 12 May 2017.