Petition launched against controversial green belt proposals

Parish councillor Gordon Fanthom says the district needs to be protected from being "strip mined for never ending housing developments".

He has launched an epetition in response to the controversial South Staffordshire Plan, which has earmarked nearly 9,000 homes for green sites across South Staffordshire over the next 17 years.

They include more than 500 houses in Wombourne, 1,200 in Coven, 848 homes in Bilbrook, over 1,200 houses in Penkridge and a sprawling new housing estate on the Essington-Wolverhampton border.

The plans have sparked a wave of protests from residents across the district, who have questioned the need for so many new homes, which they say will leave local services and infrastructure unable to cope.

Swindon Parish councillor Mr Fanthom has urged district councillors not to "ignore" the sheer weight of opposition against green belt development.

He said "a lot has changed" since 2016, when site allocations in the district were put forward, and that it was vital to protect all green belt sites to reduce the impact on climate change and flooding risks.

"South Staffordshire has a massive flood problem already as the drains cannot cope," Mr Fanthom said. "In scrapping any new green belt developments, the district council could start to play a major part in green belt protection and climate change prevention."

He has called for sites allocated for development to be "immediately returned to the green belt".

The consultation into the 'preferred options' of the South Staffordshire Plan closed last night.

Councillor Terry Mason, cabinet member for planning and business enterprise on the district council, said the authority "understood residents' concerns" about green belt development, and insisted the proposals were "not set in stone" and may change as a result of the consultation.

The petition can be accessed via the 'epetitions' section on South Staffordshire District Council's website.