Controversial new Staffordshire homes on way as extra cash found

Applicants Schroder Property, of London, claimed it is too expensive to deliver social housing at the former Parker Hannifin valve works at Walkmill Lane because of the costs of developing at an industrial site — referred to as brownfield.

The development has already been discussed by planning chiefs on Cannock Chase District Council who told applicants to go back and reconsider their position on affordable homes.

Now it appears more than £126,000 which had been earmarked for public open space contributions can be used to pay for remedial works.

But despite the apparent compromised council George Adamson said the developer should be providing both affordable housing and open space stating the scheme should be refused otherwise.

It comes after the council revealed its own 30-year house-building strategy aiming to develop more than 100 council homes had been decimated by The Government's reduction in social rents meaning the authority can now only build 16.

Councillor Adamson said: "Affordable housing is most definitely needed in Cannock Chase especially now we can't build as many houses as we had wanted.

"We always encourage building on brownfield sites but the developer should be able to provide both affordable housing and open space.

"These people make a lot of money out of these developments.

"My colleagues in planning often say that developers are pleading poverty and it is annoying.

"If they cannot deliver affordable homes on there it should be refused. There is a huge demand for affordable housing in Cannock.

"I hope the planning committee stick to their guns on this."

Valve works have occupied the eight-acre site since the early 1960s but they were demolished in 2009.

All that remains at the moment is the remnants of the old buildings most of which are at slab level.

The latest plans will go before the council again on Wednesday, May 4.

A report for the meeting revealed that £300,000 of investment will be generated from the scheme due to the amount of new homes but that money has been ring-fenced for community infrastructure improvements.

Council development officers have recommended the plans go ahead.

The report adds: "The lack of affordable housing provision is as a result of the proposed development being unviable if affordable housing were provided due to the excessively high land mitigation and remediation costs which is a direct result of the substantial ground contamination within the site.

"A viability assessment has been submitted as part of this application.

"The viability assessment has been assessed and your officers have verified the assessment as being realistic