Plans for a hotel and supermarket build in South Staffordshire thrown out

Council planning officers have judged that the development at Lyne Hill Industrial Estate, Penkridge, was not in keeping with the character of the village and would take trade away from the main shopping centre. They recommend councillors refuse the plans at a meeting tomorrow.

However, a second application for the same site which would see 165 new homes and a nursing home built has been recommended for approval.

The two applications were submitted together by developers Northcreek Estates as part of ambitions to create a £20 million mini-village outside the centre of Penkridge, estimating it would create around 200 new jobs locally.

The plans have divided the community in the village, with some residents welcoming the extra variety the new store would provide, with some claiming they were often forced to Wolverhampton or Stafford to do their shopping.

A petition of 184 signatures was handed to the council in support of the plans.

Another letter of support, from a Mr and Mrs Hassall in Templars Way, says: "This will provide better shopping choices which will mean that we spend our money in Penkridge. We do not use the 'village' centre as we do not feel it adequately meets our needs for shopping."

But some residents and traders have claimed it would ruin some small businesses – and planning officers have agreed.

In a report, they state: "The proposed development would be excessive and out of scale and...in this location, would be likely to result in a significant adverse impact upon existing provision owing to diversion of retail trade from the village centre and Boscomoor Shopping Centre."

However, the application to build new homes has been welcomed by officers, who claim there is a "particular need" in the village for homes suitable for families trying to get on the property ladder.

Bosses at South Staffordshire Council want to build 370 homes in Penkridge in the next five years – and a report published ahead of Tuesday's meeting states this development, 30 per cent of which would be affordable homes, would go a long way towards providing some of that.

The proposals, submitted to planners earlier this year, are a scaled-back version of previous plans, which were rejected by the council's planning committee in December.