ECCLESHALL PARISH COUNCIL – PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES

March 4^th 2026

A meeting of Eccleshall Parish Council Planning Committee was held on March 4^th 2026, at Eccleshall Community Centre at 7.30pm.

  47/26).   Present were: –

Councillor B. Delanchy (Chairman)          Councillor R. Taylor

Councillor G. Dale                                        Councillor R. Langford

Councillor S. Perren                                    Councillor D. Hall

Councillor C. Wilkins                                  Councillor S. Mifflin

Councillor D. Feneysey                              Councillor P. Jones

Councillor A. Reid                                        Councillor C. Ryan-Bloor

Councillor S. Kean

Mrs Stacey Worden (Clerk)

One member of the public

  48/26).   Apologies

Apologies were received from Cllrs. Hill and Gosling.

  49/26).  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.

  50/26).  Public Participation

There was no public participation.

  51/26). To approve the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 18^th February 2026

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

  52/26).  Planning Decisions of Stafford Borough Council:

25/40908/FUL– Change of use of marginal unproductive agricultural land to the siting of six luxury glamping pods for tourism together with associated access, parking, services and landscaping. Land At Clayalders Bank Standon. Refused.

  53/26)   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.

25/41443/OUT – Outline planning application with all matters reserved, except for access for the development of up to 140 dwellings, drainage and open space with associated works. Land South Of Stone Road Eccleshall.

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.

It was resolved to 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.
• 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.

The document was discussed in detail, additional points raised included:

• Cumulative impact of proposed vehicle access to this and the Bloor development. It was noted that Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) requirements are that roundabouts should not be sited within five hundred metres of another. This application will be impacted by Bloor access plans and proximity to existing traffic calming measures.
• To strengthen the biodiversity statement as much as possible to consider on site loss and impact on protected species.
• As Gentleshaw is a registered zoo it was queried whether this provides any protection against developments in close proximity to the site.

26/41662/HOU – Single storey rear extension with installation of a log burner. 28 Claremont Road Eccleshall. There were no objections to this application.

25/41591/FUL – Change of use of land to the side and rear of the property to residential use and proposed single storey side and rear extension to dwelling and outbuilding. The Cottage Cross Butts Eccleshall. There were no objections to this application. Members noted there may be  ownership issues to resolve with regards to the side strip of land, which appeared to be a former access road.

  54/26).  To consider any further applications:-

There were no further applications for consideration.

  55/26).   Any Other Planning Matters: –

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

Members of the planning working group will be meeting to review a draft representation for 25/41542/OUT (Taylor Wimpey, Shaws Lane) ahead of formal discussion at the next planning meeting. Stafford Borough Council has granted an extension for response.

• The issue of Biodiversity Net Gain and offsite allocation was raised at the recent Biodiversity Working Group meeting. There are no current sites/ projects within the parish to allocate offset funding too, which is a concern as any mitigation measures may be outside the parish. This could be raised at full application stage if projects could be identified. Cllr. Langford will speak to a member of the working group, who works for Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, to find out what actions could be taken.

   56/26).   Correspondence:-

• There was no correspondence to receive.

   57/26).   Accounts for payment:-

Authorisation was sought for payment of the following accounts:-

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

 58/26).    Date and venue for next meeting:

Wednesday 18^th March 2026, at Eccleshall Community Centre, following a meeting of the Parish Council.

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.00pm.