More homes approved for former working men’s club site despite residents' objections

Cannock Chase Council granted permission in 2020 for the Sycamore Club at Norton Canes, near Cannock, to be demolished and nine homes built on the site.

Work on that development has started, members of the council’s planning committee heard on Wednesday. They approved another application for a three-storey apartment block, bungalow and four houses to be built after going on a visit to the Hednesford Road site.

The latest proposals were recommended for approval by planning officers. But there were seven objections to the plans, for reasons including loss of privacy, light and open aspect, as well as the design of the block containing six apartments being out of keeping with the area.

A neighbour who spoke against the plans at Wednesday’s meeting raised concerns about the impact of one of the plots on his garden, including loss of light. He said: “There is a need to build more homes but in the right place – surely this is not the right place.”

But Councillor Bill Kenny, one of the committee members, said: “I would have thought living next door to a social club would cause more issues than living next door to another family. I accept what the objector has said, but things change and the development has changed.”

Councillor Alan Pearson said: “When something comes forward at the back of people’s properties there are always going to be objections.”