Village’s ancient meadow threatened with housing plan as residents oppose scheme
Plans for dozens of homes on an ancient village meadow near a beauty spot have been met with objections.
Housebuilder Crest Nicholson has submitted a scheme for 38 houses on green fields south of White Hill, near Kinver Edge.
The 1.5-hectare plot was classed as green belt until September 2018 when it was released for development in the South Staffordshire Site Allocations Document (SADPD).
A scheme to build a housing estate on the site, put forward by Trebor Developments, was approved in September 2021, before the land was sold to Crest Nicholson in December 2022.
The previous scheme was met with strong opposition from residents, who have also spoken out against the new plans.
They include Andrew Read, who said: “The loss of not only green belt but ancient untouched pasture is a historical crime and should be objected by all Kinver residents before more development is scheduled.
“All residents know the infrastructure of schools, clinics etc cannot cope, along with the increase of road traffic at already busy junctions that could pose a danger to school children and a hindrance to emergency services.”
Dale Jakeman said the development would lead to a lack of privacy and be destructive to wildlife, while also adding pressure to services around Kinver village.
Stanley Boffey said the scheme would cause traffic “chaos” at the bottom of White Hill and would also have a significant impact at the junction of Potters Cross and Meddins Lane.
Tammy Willis said Kinver was already “oversubscribed”, with local services “bursting at the seams”.
“I think it should be re-planned and choose a better area that can provide better transport, shops and schools,” she added.
Ruth Lyndon said: “Kinver has already lost green belt land. It does not need another housing estate.”
Nicholas Brown, who also objects to the scheme, questioned whether it had been “practically assessed” by councillors and called for a public consultation.
Matthew Robinson said: “Whilst I appreciate there is need for housing there are plenty of brownfield site that can be redeveloped.”
The reserved matters application, submitted to South Staffordshire Council, includes provision for 16 affordable homes and an access road from White Hill.
A statement supporting the scheme describes it as a “high quality development” with an “appropriate mix of house types, sizes and tenures”.
It adds: “The development will retain and supplement existing mature landscape features. It will integrate within the wider landscape incorporating appropriate separation distances from adjacent development.”
It says the development will bring much-needed homes to the area, and will feature homes of between one and five bedrooms.
A further 3.9 hectares of land to the south of the site was also released from the green belt and has been identified as ‘safeguarded’ land.
It was lined up for a proposed housing allocation in the South Staffordshire Local Plan, which has been suspended while council chiefs await new national guidelines on housing numbers.
