Proposed locations revealed for thousands of new homes in south Staffordshire
Proposed locations for thousands of new homes across south Staffordshire have been revealed.
South Staffordshire Council is currently developing its latest Local Plan, which will set out how new development will take place over the next two decades.
The authority has a target of 8,881 new homes to be built by 2038. This includes around 4,000 required to fill a shortfall for other local authority areas.
South Staffordshire Council is also setting out how it plans to allocate land for employment and pitches for the gypsy and travelling communities as part of the Preferred Options consultation, which is set to start in November.
On Tuesday maps detailing proposed site allocations were presented to members of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
The meeting was told that four major preferred development locations were proposed to provide at least 4,300 new homes.
These are:
Land east of Bilbrook (minimum 848)
Land at Cross Green in Brewood and Coven ward (minimum 1,200)
Land north of Linthouse Lane in Essington ward (1,200 by 2038)
Land north of Penkridge (minimum 1,129)
Smaller potential housing development sites have also been identified in villages across the district, including Penkridge, Kinver, Wombourne, Perton, Codsall, Cheslyn Hay and Brewood.
Kelly Harris, lead planning manager, said: “We’re looking at a 30 per cent affordable housing policy and 75 per cent of market properties are to have three bedrooms or less. We’ve also got support for specialist housing, bungalows, older person’s properties and we’re looking at 30 per cent of homes to be built to the accessible or adaptable building standards.
“We also have policies with strong design requirements as we know how important that is to our members and communities that we ensure we have good design on sites.
“We have a policy to commit to work with infrastructure providers, making sure we’re delivering what’s needed on site and financial contributions where necessary to offsite infrastructure. That includes health infrastructure, working closely with CCGs (Clinical Commissioning Groups), education and new onsite open space delivery.”
Policies to support biodiversity and reduce carbon emissions are also being put forward, the meeting heard. Electric vehicle charging standards are being proposed which would see one on-plot charge point per house.
Grant Mitchell, assistant director of enterprise and growth, said the public consultation was set to start on November 1 and run for six weeks until December 13.
The authority will write directly to more than 12,000 residents and stakeholders on the consultation database. And all consultation documents will be published on the council’s website and promoted on social media.
For those who do not have computer or internet access copies of documents will be available at libraries and parish councils across the district, the meeting was told.
Mr Mitchell added: “We are arranging five locality team meetings for residents and stakeholders. They will be via Teams and follow a question and answer format. The team will be allocating a number of days for virtual discussions and telephone calls with local residents and stakeholders by appointment – that’s fairly standard.
“We will be allocating days for face to face discussions with residents out in the localities by appointment. We’re very conscious people will want to come and see us and talk to us but we can do this in an environment that means we have not got hundreds of people in a very confined space and exposing anybody to the risk of Covid.”
