ECCLESHALL PARISH COUNCIL – PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES

May 7^th 2025

A meeting of Eccleshall Parish Council Planning Committee was held on May 7^th 2025, at Eccleshall Community Centre at 7.30pm.

 94/25).   Present were: –

Councillor B. Delanchy (Chairman)          Councillor G. Dale

Councillor S. Perren                                     Councillor R. Taylor

Councillor D. Hall                                         Councillor D. Hill

Councillor A. Reid                                       Councillor S. Mifflin

Councillor P. Jones                                     Councillor D. Feneysey

Councillor C. Wilkins                                   Councillor C. Ryan-Bloor

Mrs Stacey Worden (Clerk)

Ten members of the public  (until 8.05pm)

4 representatives from  Bellway Homes/Cerda Planning/Marrons (until 8.05pm)

 95/25).    Apologies

Apologies were received from Cllrs. Langford, Gosling and Kean.

 96/25).  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.

 97/25).   Public Participation

A member of the public noted that they had contacted Bellway previously to determine their interest in building in Eccleshall and was advised there were no plans at that time.

 98/25).  To approve the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 16^th April 2025

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

99/25).  Presentation by representatives from Cerda Planning and Bellway Homes in relation to a   proposal for new homes off the Stone Road, to the east of Eccleshall

In attendance were four representatives from Bellway Homes, Cerda (planning consultants) and Marrons (design consultants).

The council listened to an introductory presentation of a proposal by Bellway to develop an outline planning application for up to 150 homes to the east of Eccleshall, adjacent to Sancerre Grange. Key points of the presentation included:

• Although out of the current settlement boundary, the need to meet increased housing stock numbers means that planning applications are considered in line with National Planning Policy, which encourages approval of sustainable developments.
• Primary access will be off Stone Road, with a gateway feature such as green space or a play area.
• The initial application will be an outline proposal, with details of housing mix and features to be agreed later. Input from a public consultation and the parish council was encouraged in order to shape the proposal to best suit the needs of the community. Housing types/sizes will be in line with Borough Council guidance of housing needs.
• The development includes two attenuation pools and will retain existing hedgerows and the right of way which bisects the land.
• Once pre application advice has been obtained from the Borough Council, there will be a public consultation with an open forum arranged, and representatives are happy to attend a future planning meeting to provide updates.

Points noted by councillors included:

• The development will take away existing farmland used for food supply.
• The community and council are seeing a large number of speculative applications in the pipeline, and the large volume of housing proposed (with totals up to 1000) makes it difficult to support these applications.
• Current and historical flood problems were highlighted, to include the current flooding issues in the centre of town and by the Castle St. development, as well as Stone Road flooding. Concerns were expressed at the lack of capacity in the existing drainage systems to cope with more housing. It was advised that a multidisciplinary team will be assessing flood risk and ensuring appropriate mitigation is in place to offset surface runoff as well as flash floods.
• If adjacent schemes are given the go ahead, it is vital that the developers communicate to produce a cohesive design.

(members of the public and Bellway representatives left at this point).

 100/25).  Planning Decisions of Stafford Borough Council:

25/40311/PAR – Notification for Prior Approval for the Change of Use (Class Q) of

an agricultural building to eight dwellinghouses. Barn At Wootton Farm Wootton Lane. Refused.

25/40606/T5N – Eccleshall Conservation Area: Hornbeam (T1) – Tree split out. Fell split

out half and remove arisings. Eccleshall Castle Castle Street Eccleshall. Approved.

  101/25)  Planning Applications for consideration:-

There were no applications for consideration

  102/25). To consider any further applications:-

There were no further applications for consideration.

  103/25).   Any Other Planning Matters: –

• Infrastructure issues and required improvements, aspirational aims and other considerations for Eccleshall:

The draft document was circulated to all members and any additional suggestions for inclusion to be sent to the Clerk.

• Free Housing Needs Surveys: The Clerk made enquiries with regards to the offer and was advised that only partial funding is available. Furthermore, the SPCA appointed Rural Housing Enabler can only offer support to parishes of population size 3000 or smaller. Even if the survey was targeted at the town centre area, this would be over 5000. It was agreed not to proceed further at this time, but to progress later using the results of the Borough surveys once completed, which will then inform the Neighbourhood plan review.

  104/25).   Correspondence:-

• It was noted that further developments may come with the potential for car park provision, for example additional housing adjacent to the current Castle St. development could include provision a car park. Members were concerned as to whether this would be at too high a trade off in terms of the location and potential for flooding.

  105/25).   Accounts for payment:-

Authorisation was sought for payment of the following accounts:-

All were in favour and the accounts will be paid accordingly. Cllrs. Taylor and Reid will process the approvals online.

 106/25).    Date and venue for next meeting:

Wednesday 21^st May 2025, at Eccleshall Community Centre, following the annual meeting of the Parish Council.

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.25pm.