Plans to build up to 150 homes on the Bibby site in Stone have been approved, despite concerns that the development will eat up employment land and increase traffic congestion.
Nine acres of the site in Walton will be sold off and transformed into a new housing estate through the scheme. Three businesses currently operate from the site and together they employ more than 200 staff. One of these firms, Sterilin, will move elsewhere in the town.
The other two businesses, Scilabware and Bibby Scientific, will move to a neighbouring warehouse. Half the existing factory on the site will then be demolished.
Stafford Borough Council’s development control committee granted outline planning permission for the redevelopment scheme at their meeting on Wednesday 24th November. It will involve building between 100 and 150 homes, of which at least 30 per cent will have to be affordable housing. They are likely to be a mixture of detached and semi-detached houses.
But a series of concerns were raised at the meeting. Residents had feared the main route to the new homes would be via Tilling Drive, which is already congested and leads to Pirehill First School and Walton Priory Middle School.
Ward councillor Mike Carey, who sits on the committee, said families would have “fought tooth and nail” to stop this from happening. Instead, the site owner, UK Boxer Propco 1, has proposed having a single access point off the A34.
But Stone councillor Phil Jones still feels access from the dual carriageway could pose a problem. He told the meeting: “At certain times of the day, that road is extremely congested. This will be a further obstruction as traffic tries to get out.”
He said he had an even stronger objection to the loss of employment land, highlighting how one nearby industrial estate, Whitebridge, was already full, and another industrial site only had large units lying vacant.
Mr Jones said this would leave no scope for people who wanted to start up their own small businesses in Stone. But the site owner revealed it had tried, without success, to market it to potential businesses for warehousing.
The owner will have to pay money under a Section 106 agreement to secure affordable housing, open space and education provision.
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