ECCLESHALL PARISH COUNCIL – PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES

July 2^nd 2025

 DRAFT

A meeting of Eccleshall Parish Council Planning Committee was held on July 2^nd 2025, at Eccleshall Community Centre at 7.30pm.

 143/25).   Present were: –

Councillor R. Taylor (Chairman)               Councillor G. Dale

Councillor R. Langford                                Councillor M. Gosling

Councillor C. Ryan-Bloor                           Councillor D. Hill

Councillor C. Wilkins                                  Councillor S. Mifflin

Councillor S. Kean                                       Councillor D. Feneysey

Mrs Stacey Worden (Clerk)

Two members of the public

 144/25).  Apologies

Apologies were received from Cllrs. Perren, Delanchy, Jones, Reid and Hall.

 145/25).  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.

 146/25).  Public Participation

A member of the public spoke to highlight their ongoing concerns about the proposed excessive level of development around Eccleshall and petitioned the Council to support the community and help to prevent the uncontrolled developments that are in the pipeline for submission.

 147/25). To approve the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 18^th June 2025

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

 148/25).  Planning Decisions of Stafford Borough Council:

There were no decisions made since the last meeting.

  149/25)  Planning Applications for consideration:-

25/40654/HOU – Variation of condition 2 of 24/39062/HOU. Spinneys Church Street Eccleshall. There were no objections to this application.

25/40399/FUL – Proposed Commercial development comprising of 12 Garden buildings for retail & Office Use (Class C). Fletchers Garden Centre Stone Road Eccleshall. There were no objections to this application.

  150/25). To consider any further applications:-

 There were no further applications for consideration.

  151/25).   Any Other Planning Matters: –

• Updated document on infrastructure issues and required improvements, aspirational aims and other considerations for Eccleshall:

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

• Discussion in relation to the expected planning applications:

Consultation Feedback from CPRE: The Clerk had contacted CPRE and had an extensive telephone discussion with their planning advisor regarding the potential planning applications and impact this is likely to have on the area in terms of overdevelopment, lack of infrastructure and exacerbation of current local problems. The discussion confirmed the difficult position of the Council due to the changes in the NPPF and increased housing targets which override the current Local Plan, which have jointly resulted in the vulnerability to speculative development and a lack of legal arguments that can be put forward against the proposals.

Further discussion: There was extensive discussion arising from the advice and an update on resident activities, which included the following points:

• 30-40 residents attended a meeting to discuss concerns, and a further meeting is planned for the 11^th Residents are expecting support from the council to combat the proposed developments. The council also urged residents to submit individual responses to all consultations and applications as a council response is still only counted as a single response and carries no more weight, in the same way as a petition is only one submission.
• Infrastructure concerns were re-iterated and discussed – including traffic flow, parking, flooding, sewage management. Councillors noted that the planning applications are just required to show they have solutions in place that work on paper. It was advised that the plan for Bishops Lonsdale to merge year groups is to improve transition for the students and not an indicator of any capacity issues.
• It was clarified that the new mandatory housing target of 751 (increased from 358) is only for the Stafford Borough area, not the whole of Staffordshire. At present the Borough need to demonstrate a 5-year supply, but this will increase to 6 years in 2026. As the housing target is per year, this means that a development of 500 houses with a build rate of 50 per year will only contribute 50 dwellings to the yearly target. Consideration of planning applications on a case-by-case basis may not take into account the wider picture of further planned applications and the overall impact in an area, and it could be a case of ‘first come first served’ until the initial targets can be reached.
• Any infrastructure offered within the applications would need to be legally secured and explicitly detailed within the agreements. Where developers offer infrastructure such as GP surgeries or schools, they would provide the space and some contributions, but the relevant authorities/services would have to deliver them. Members discussed whether there were benefits to supporting any proposal(s) over others when submitting responses to the pending applications, to achieve the best outcome possible in the current climate where some development seems inevitable. No conclusion or decisions were reached on this point.
• The following resolutions were approved as a result of the discussion:
  • The Clerk will contact a planning consultant to obtain costs for representation. A consultant could support the Council in making sure formal responses and representations are robust, comprehensive, supported by current national planning policy framework where possible, as well as advising any other recommendations for action that can be undertaken to obtain the best possible result for the community.
  • The Clerk will write to Leigh Ingham MP to raise awareness of the concerns and ask for her support. It was agreed that publicity opportunities should be taken advantage of.

• Briefing pack regarding the scrapping of funding for Neighbourhood Plans and resolve to approve the draft motion to call on the Government and local MP to provide dedicated funding for Neighbourhood Plans.

Members resolved to approve the draft motion in support of the reintroduction of funding for Neighbourhood Plans.

  152/25).   Correspondence:-

There was no correspondence for consideration

  153/25).   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.

 154/25).    Date and venue for next meeting:

Wednesday 16^th July 2025, at Broughton Parish Room, following a meeting of the Parish Council.

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.27pm.