Villagers in protest

Fuming villagers desperate to protect Gnosall from being swallowed up by more housing today claimed it would be "doomed" if plans to build hundreds more homes were allowed to go ahead.Campaigners fear the village, which is England's largest with 5,700 residents, will lose its unique character and become a town if more estates are built on its surrounding fields.

Hundreds of sites across the Stafford borough are currently being looked at to decide where 13,100 new homes should be built over the next 20 years and dozens of villagers packed out a public meeting about the proposed sites to make their opinions known.

Gnosall Parish Council called the meeting and around 60 people turned out to show their support for the battle to stop any further estates being built.

Gill Reynolds, who has lived in the village all her life, said one of the potential development sites was off Old Barn Close, at the back of her home.

She said: "The village is doomed if these proposals go ahead. We don't want the village to get any bigger. It will ruin its character and turn it into a town.

"Many of the sites are outside the village boundary, in greenfield areas.

"If they keep building on land like that, we will eventually link up with neighbouring villages like Haughton and Ranton. It is absolutely ridiculous."

She urged people to have their say about the situation by e-mailing or writing to Stafford Borough Council and their MP before the end of the consultation period on November 11.

Gnosall Parish Council chairman Graham Payne said: "We don't want the village to be expanded because it will be lost forever and become a town.

"There is also the question of the infrastructure needed to cater for the increased population and extra cars generated.

"Parts of the village are already prone to flooding and, the more you cover the land with houses and roads, the less places there are for the water to go."

Parish councillors have already objected to the system of choosing where to build new homes by awarding points for local services and selecting areas with the highest scores. They say the system is "fundamentally flawed" and claimed it wrongly rated Gnosall as having more services than the town of Eccleshall. Stafford Borough Council spokesman Will Conaghan urged people to view the potential housing sites and have their say by looking up the council website at www.staffordbc.gov.uk and following the link "New Houses - where could they go?"