Delay to housing plan for 9,000 homes a 'vital victory', say campaigners

Campaigners have been fighting against South Staffordshire District Council's (SSDC's) local plan, which has earmarked 9,000 homes for mainly green belt sites across the district.

But council chiefs have now decided to "pause" the process and will not be submitting the latest version of the plan to the Government until new national guidelines on housing numbers have been published.

Members of the Save the Lower Penn Green Belt group, who are fighting to stop up to 500 homes being built in their area, have had their say on the announcement.

Ken Crane said he was "pleased" that the council had paused the process. He said: "It appears that SSDC have followed other local councils to halt their local plan and reflect on more updated information and more sensible housing demands in line with revised government guidelines.

"Or perhaps they have decided it wise to listen to the concerns of the residents who voted them into office. It would have been far more pleasing and reassuring for the electorate to have seen the council to have halted the plan when they voted on it in November, but now common sense appears to be winning the argument.

"Many thousands of voting residents within the area can hold their breath for now awaiting a sensible outcome."

Group chair Steve McEwan, said it was a "wise decision to pause the process".

"We now need to work now with our councillors and SSDC to ensure the future housing requirements are justifiable based on clear up to date evidence and the concerns of the local residents regarding specific sites are being listened to and acted on," he added.

"It is a relief that our district council are listening to residents at last and responding to our concerns that the housing numbers proposed within the South Staffs Local Plan were clearly unjustifiable."

Local resident John Harper said that while the decision was "fantastic news", he still had concerns over the council's ability to protect the green belt.

Kerrie Richards said it was wrong to "sacrifice precious green belt" for housing. She said: "Let's hope that the planners and councillors of South Staffordshire finally take heed, stop acting like lemmings to the sea, and use this opportunity to prevent green belt destruction."

Meanwhile Lower Penn Parish councillor Nigel Cox said the decision marked "a vital victory in the overall battle to protect our green belt".

Campaigners have argued that the housing targets used in the plan were out of date, and that it was unreasonable to expect South Staffordshire to take around 4,000 new homes to enable neighbouring authorities in the Black Country to meet their own allocation through a 'duty to cooperate'.

Goldfinch Town Planning Services, a planning consultancy which objected to the plan during the consultation period, said it would result in "huge levels of environmental damaging development across extensive areas of very sensitive open countryside".

The firm said: "We continue to have fundamental concerns about the emerging local plan review and the underlying long-standing failings in the evidence base being used by the Local Planning Authority to support local plan preparation to justify thousands of new homes across very sensitive areas of open countryside."

Laura Smith, who founded a group campaigning against hundreds of homes planned for Wombourne, said it was "unfortunate" that around 30 councillors had continued to back the plan last year despite the collapse of the Black Country Plan.

"Despite public outcry, residents were then forced into another public consultation," she added.

"Although we are happy it has now been paused, it needs careful consideration of providing accurate housing numbers for local people, as well the removal of some of the proposed existing sites for ethical and environmental reasons.

"Green belt land needs to be protected and previous discounted brownfield sites to be reviewed.

"We want more autonomy given to local councils, communities and services in deciding the fate of our own villages."

South Staffordshire MP Sir Gavin Williamson has raised the issue in the Commons, saying the district had been put in a "terrible situation".

"The simple reality is that the duty to co-operate system is causing many local authorities to build the wrong types of houses in the wrong areas," he said. "It is a blight on our countryside and our green belt."

Councillor Terry Mason, South Staffordshire Council's cabinet member for planning and business enterprise, said the council had queries around the duty to cooperate, as well as questions regarding the release of green belt land for development.

"We will be seeking clarity on the new national proposals and until we fully understand the potential implications, we will not be submitting the local plan to the Inspectorate for examination," he said.

Last year the Black Country Plan – which earmarked green belt sites for more than 8,000 homes in Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton – collapsed in the face of widespread opposition to green belt development.