South Staffordshire to get 1,600 new homes by 2028
Up to 1,610 homes will be built in South Staffordshire over the next 15 years under plans unveiled today. They will help young people and families struggling to get their own home.
South Staffordshire's Local Plan is a blueprint for future development setting out how many homes are needed, what employment opportunities there are and how to protect the green belt. In South Staffordshire, more than 3,850 new homes are scheduled to be built before 2028.
But taking into account developments over the past few years and those developments which already have planning permission, that figure falls to 1,610.
Every council in the country is expected to outline how many new homes are needed through what is known as a Local Plan or Core Strategy.
Planning chiefs at the council say the new strategy puts in place policies which will mean local people and the local council will have a greater say in what developments are best.
Council bosses say the 1,600 new homes are the lowest housing figures they have had but that the numbers will help young people and families who are being forced to move out of villages because there are not enough homes.
South Staffordshire has become one of the first councils in the West Midlands to approve its Core Strategy after it received the green light from a government inspector.
Andy Johnson, director of planning, said: "The Core Strategy will put local councillors in a stronger position to decide the district's future when it comes to development.
"It sets out clearly where development could work, and where it won't."
