500 new homes planned for Lichfield site
Plans have been submitted for a sprawling development in Lichfield featuring more than 500 homes, a new school and a park.
Persimmon Homes has put forward the St Johns scheme, off Shortbutts Lane, which will be accessed from the new Southern bypass.
As well as 529 homes and a primary school, the 95-acre-site – part of which falls in the green belt – will also feature a park, sports pitches and cycling routes.
There will also be a 'community hub' with pubs and take away restaurants, according to the proposals.
A planning statement for the scheme says the homes will range from one-bed maisonettes to five-bed houses to "meet the needs of the local area", while more than one third of the properties will be affordable homes.
It says the site has been identified as suitable for homes under strategic development allocations, despite its southern half falling inside the green belt and the remainder previously being within in an ‘area of development restraint’.
The statement concludes: "The proposal seeks to significantly boost the local housing land supply which will in turn create opportunities for economic growth and promote healthy, integrated communities and should be approved without delay.
"The proposals will deliver new housing, including a considerable amount of affordable housing, in a sustainable location and will assist the Council by making a significant contribution towards meeting the land supply and the Government’s objective of ‘boosting significantly’ the supply of housing."
Land next to the site is currently being developed for homes by Taylor Wimpey.
Lichfield District Council is aiming to deliver 1,350 new homes south of the city by 2029.
A 'masterplan' for the development was given the green light in 2019, after plans for a similar scheme had been approved the previous year.
Earlier this year work started on the Southern bypass, which links the A5127 Birmingham Road with the A5206 London Road by going under the cross city railway line.
