ECCLESHALL PARISH COUNCIL – PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES

January 21^st 2026

A meeting of Eccleshall Parish Council Planning Committee was held on January 21^st 2026, at Eccleshall Community Centre at 8.30pm, following the Parish Council meeting.

   13/26).   Present were: –

Councillor B. Delanchy (Chairman)          Councillor A. Reid

Councillor P. Jones (until 8.47pm)            Councillor M. Gosling

Councillor S. Perren                                    Councillor D. Hall

Councillor C. Wilkins                                  Councillor G. Dale

Councillor S. Kean                                       Councillor R. Langford

Councillor R. Taylor                                     Councillor D. Hill

Councillor C. Ryan-Bloor

Mrs Stacey Worden (Clerk)

No members of the public

  14/26).   Apologies

Apologies were received from Cllrs. Mifflin and Feneysey.

  15/26).  Declarations of Interest and Councillor requests for dispensation relating to items on the agenda:

There were no requests to receive, and no declarations of interest were made.

  16/26).  Public Participation

There was no public participation.

  17/26). To approve the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 7^th January 2026

The minutes, which had been previously circulated, were agreed and signed.

  18/26).  Planning Decisions of Stafford Borough Council:

25/41414/HOU – Proposed extension to existing garage to form 2 additional bays. Rose Cottage Meadow Lane Mill Meece. Approved.

24/39724/FUL– Construction of detached dwelling and two detached garages following demolition of existing dairy building. Denham Lodge 47 Stone Road. Refused.

25/41419/PAGR – Prior Approval – Infill with inert rubble and level with hardcore. Land At Wootton Farm Wootton Lane Wootton. Prior Approval Granted.

  19/26)   Planning Applications for consideration:-

Cllrs. Jones and Reid abstained from voting on planning applications to avoid any conflict of interests due to duties within Stafford Borough Council.

25/41516/OUT – Outline planning application with all matters reserved (except for principal means of access), for development comprising up to 480 residential dwellings (Use Class C3), specialist housing for older people (Use Class C2 or C3), medical centre/primary care hub (Use Class E) and primary school (Use Class F.1), with associated open space, landscaping and other associated works including infrastructure, earthworks and drainage. Land To West Of Blurtons Lane, South Of Stone Road, North Of Stafford Road Eccleshall.

The Parish Council’s Planning Consultant from UVE Consultancy joined remotely at this point to provide advice on the application.

Members received and considered the draft representation prepared by UVE consultancy, which detailed material consideration to be reviewed in relation to this application. The report also provided a series of bullet points for use by residents wishing to send in their own responses to the Borough Council.

(Cllr. Jones left the meeting at this point).

It was resolved to strongly object to this application.

Key points highlighted in the report included:

• Paragraph 12 of the National Planning Policy Framework, December 2024 makes clear that “The presumption in favour of sustainable development does not change the statutory status of the development plan as the starting point for decision-making.”  
• The proposed development is outside of the settlement boundary and would set a precedent, leading to further incremental encroachment into the open countryside and loss of high value landscape and biodiversity corridors. It would also harm the rural and village character of the area, encroaching further into the open countryside.
• Acceptance of greenfield development would create further challenges to the viability of vacant brownfield or allocated housing sites within the borough.
• The development of the site would result in the loss of Grade 2 ‘best and most versatile’ agricultural land.
• There are already infrastructure deficiencies relating to school places, public transport, highway capacity and drainage. The proposal must be assessed in the context of other applications and allocations; infrastructure is already under stress, additional development will obviously exacerbate problems.
• The proposed development, even with mitigation, would result in intrusive visual impact, owing to the prominent location outside of the settlement, isolated in the open countryside.
• The applicant has not provided a sequential test and there is no material reason to depart from this requirement.
• The proposed development fails to provide sufficient information in relation to drainage, downstream connectivity, capacity and impacts from surface water flooding into the proposed dwellings.
• Development on previously undeveloped land will have a negative impact on surface water drainage and the wider water and flood management of the locality. Surface water flood issues are already a significant problem for Eccleshall, and this will exacerbate these by reducing the capacity for natural surface water management in the catchment area for the River Sow.
• The development would result in harm and loss of heritage assets within the application site.
• It is contrary to national, Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plan policies as set out later in the representation.

  20/26).  To consider any further applications:-

There were no further applications for consideration.

  21/26).   Any Other Planning Matters: –

• To provide an update on the work to date with Urban Vision Enterprise (UVE) planning consultancy:

There were no further updates to report.

  22/26).   Correspondence:-

• After noting the request from Severn Trent to allow for additional time to complete the relevant assessment of requirements for the Bloor application detailed above, Severn Trent were contacted to advise if the assessment is considering the impact of all current planning applications. It was confirmed that they are looking at all growth and new development holistically/cumulatively across the catchment, to include addressing existing issues and the impact of increased rainfall resulting from climate change.

  23/26).    Date and venue for next meeting:

Wednesday 4^th February 2026, at Eccleshall Community Centre, at 7.30pm

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.20pm.