Wildlife Trust calls for 'realistic' housing targets in South Staffordshire Plan submission
The county’s leading conservation charity has told council chiefs to ensure housing targets are "realistic" amid concerns over green belt development.
The Wildlife Trust has called for investigations into dozens of sites earmarked for homes in South Staffordshire in a bid to ensure environmental habitats are protected.
The trust has also questioned whether the district's housing target of nearly 9,000 homes is realistic, and called for more green infrastructure projects to sit alongside planned housing developments.
A consultation on housing targets detailed in the South Staffordshire Plan ended earlier this month following a wave of protests from residents against green belt development.
In its submission, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust outlined a series of measures it says will protect green spaces and wildlife and fight the climate emergency.
They include a call for the council to engage with landowners to identify and register more sites for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), and "site specific studies" to check whether areas qualify as 'local wildlife sites'.
The trust says the plans do not cover green infrastructure proposals for 35 sites, and also called for 30 per cent of land to be protected "for nature’s recovery".
Kate Dewey, The trust’s senior planning officer, said: “In addition to the climate emergency, we are facing a nature crisis, with many wild species facing huge declines or even extinction due to threats to their habitats and habitat isolation.
"We also know that now more than ever we need nature: for our mental and physical wellbeing, and to tackle threats like flooding, heatwaves and air pollution that we are seeing much more of.
“We’re keen to continue working with South Staffordshire Council to integrate nature’s recovery more fully within the Local Plan and across all policy areas.
“We are currently engaging with a number of local authorities around the county to encourage them to adopt a motion for nature's recovery, and next year we hope to get South Staffordshire Council on board with this too.
"The benefits will go further than helping wildlife - making places more beautiful and healthy to live, storing carbon and supporting landowners as well."
The plan will be considered by council chiefs in the new year before a further public consultation.
