Plans thrown out for 40 homes in Staffordshire
Plans to add 40 more homes to a new development have been thrown out by councillors because of their lack of connection with the rest of the village.
Stafford Borough Council’s planning committee decided to reject the proposals for the land off Little Tixall Lane, Great Haywood, during their third time considering the application.
The plans were twice sent back - in September and October - by the committee to developer Lovell, after concerns were raised about the design and lack of link to the rest of Great Haywood.
Planning permission for 77 homes on the site was granted in 2015, but now Lovell wishes to build 117 properties there.
Councillor Alexander Brown called in the latest application on the grounds “the increase of proposed houses will result in increased traffic down Coley Lane, potential loss of green space and a strain on local amenities”.
Committee members spoke of potential safety issues if extra cars needed to use the A51 to travel from the new development to village services.
However, the county’s highways authority has raised no objections to the latest application. It said the proposals would not have a significant impact on the highway above what would result from the 77 homes already approved for the site.
Councillor Jack Kemp told the meeting of a near miss he had experienced while turning on to the A51 from Hixon last month.
He said: “Don’t talk to me about the highways department. I can tell you I was missed by a speeding car I didn’t even see until I was halfway across the road – that’s how dangerous the A51 is.
“There are no traffic lights on the Hixon junction, so God help the people turning in and out of this estate. We don’t get a set of traffic lights erected until someone gets killed.”
Councillor Andrew Cooper, who lives in Great Haywood, said: “The fact Little Tixall Lane has been closed off means anybody who wants to go down to the doctors and the shop and anything else is more than likely going to drive out onto the A51 and back into the village.
“That is an issue in itself against the policy of clean air and reducing CO2 this council is heading for. It forces people to take their cars down into Great Haywood which increases congestion down there.
“We’re talking about an increase of 40 houses, which has got to be realistically 80 additional cars on that development. Going out onto the A51 and coming back in is scary now.
“There is a traffic safety issue regardless of what highways say – I am telling you as a resident.”
Just four members present at Wednesday’s committee meeting were eligible to vote on the application because others had not attended one or both of the previous sessions where it had been considered. Three members voted to refuse permission on the grounds of lack of connectivity to facilities and services in Great Haywood, with one against refusal.
The decision went against the recommendation from planning officers to approve the application.
Steve Ulfig from Lovell, who spoke in support of the application at the meeting, said: “This application for 117 dwellings meets all the policy requirements that are material considerations and this has always been the case.
“Lovell has taken great pains to ensure the dwellings are sympathetic to the local area. We see no reason as to why members should refuse this application.”
