A Stone resident’s association has been successful in overturning a housing development plan on the edge of the town.
Earlier this year Aston Lodge Residents Association lodged an “Application to Challenge” with the Secretary of State against Her Majesty’s Inspector who had made the decision to allow landowner, Fradley Developments, to create up to 20 homes on greenfield land on the estate.
The land, off Blackies Lane in Aston Lodge, was originally earmarked for a community facility when the estate was built approximately 30 years ago. Two previous applications to build houses by Fradley Developments were denied by Stafford Borough Council (SBC). The second denial came after action from the residents association exposed the inappropriate use of a planning mechanism known as C5 Rural Exception.
C5 allows developers and councils to agree to build homes on green field sites that lie outside the agreed settlement boundary if those houses are deemed necessary to support a rural community. The residents association proved that SBC had wrongly applied C5 because Stone is not a rural community.
Fradley subsequently appealed which prompted a full-blown Public Inquiry involving, Fradley, the residents association and SBC. SBC suddenly withdrew their case causing the Inspector to rule in favour of Fradley thus allowing up to 20 homes using a C5 Rural Exception Site mechanism.
The residents association, with the backing of many residents, decided that an Application to Challenge must be submitted on the grounds that Inquiry was procedurally flawed. In the last few days, solicitors for the residents association confirmed that Fradley Developments had acknowledged their Application to Challenge, and would not be contesting it.
This comes soon after both Stafford Borough Council and the Secretary of State also acknowledged they would not be contesting the Application to Challenge either. With all three defendants pulling out the High Court should now deliver a consent order to quash the Inspector’s decision.
With the planning halted it’s now hoped that options to protect the land from development can be explored, including securing it as part of Local Green Space #34 as set out in the Stone Neighbourhood Plan.
Separately, outline planning permission for housing and shops on Lichfield Road was permitted citing the Inspector’s C5 planning decision; this could mean that that application will be reconsidered along with any others that use the ruling to create an exceptional planning application
Robert Townsend, co-chair for the residents association told A Little Bit of Stone:
“It is important to note that we have not been fighting this because we are opposed to development. We are doing this because the residents have said they want to protect an important green space and because we cannot allow the incorrect use of planning policy which could ruin many green sites around Stone.
“Stone will meet and exceed the required home building and so any unplanned development of green space is not necessary.
“We realise that this victory is unlikely to be the end of the story. There have been many twists and turns over the last two years, and it is wishful thinking to believe there won’t be yet more. We are not complacent, and we will be exploring every possible avenue.
“This victory is very exciting. It would not have been possible without the unfailing support of the residents and our ward Independent Town Councillor, Andy Osgathorpe. Working together, the people of Aston Lodge have shown that we can have a voice and that we can make an impact.”
