ECCLESHALL PARISH COUNCIL – PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES

May 20^th 2026

 DRAFT

A meeting of Eccleshall Parish Council Planning Committee was held on May 20^th 2026, at Eccleshall Community Centre at 8.05pm, following the Parish Council meeting.

  105/26).   Present were: –

Councillor B. Delanchy (Chairman)          Councillor A. Reid

Councillor P. Jones                                      Councillor D. Hall

Councillor S. Mifflin                                     Councillor D. Hill

Councillor M. Gosling                                  Councillor G. Dale

Councillor S. Kean                                       Councillor R. Langford

Councillor R. Taylor

Mrs Stacey Worden (Clerk)

Three members of the public

 106/26).  Apologies

Apologies were received from Cllrs. Perren, Wilkins, Feneysey and Ryan-Bloor.

 107/26). To elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman:

Cllr. Delanchy requested nominations for Chair of the Planning Committee. Cllr. Delanchy was duly re-elected for the ensuing year.

Cllr. Delanchy requested nominations for Vice-Chairman of the Committee. Cllr. Perren was nominated and duly re-elected.

108/26).  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.

 109/26). Public Participation

There was no public participation.

 110/26). To approve the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 6^th May 2026

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

 111/26). Planning Decisions of Stafford Borough Council:

25/41172/HOU – Ground floor front, side and rear extensions, increase in roof height.

Outlane Walton Hurst Lane Eccleshall Estate Sturbridge Lane Eccleshall. Approved.

 112/26)  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.

26/41917/HOU – Proposed hall and lounge extension to front of property. Alterations to existing conservatory including replacement of roof finish. 16 Redhills Eccleshall. There were no objections to this application.

 113/26). To consider any further applications:-

There were no further applications for consideration.

 114/26).  Any Other Planning Matters: –

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

• To consider and approve addendum responses to recent speculative planning applications:

Members were provided with a recommended addendum for submission against five of the six live applications, to support the newly published DEFRA Land Use Framework, which strengthens the case for protecting Best and Most Versatile Land (BMV) grades 1,2 and 3a, to support food security. It was resolved to approve this course of action and submit additional representation to the following applications:

• 25/41516/OUT (Bloor, north of Stafford Road) – Grade 2
• 25/41443/OUT (Bellway, Stone Road) – Grade 2
• 25/41542/OUT (Taylor Wimpey, Shaws Lane) – Grade 3a
• 25/41016/OUT (Muller, Campion Close) – Grade 3a
• 25/41015/OUT (Muller, Shaws Lane) – Grade 3a

• To consider essential infrastructure requirements as planning conditions, should any applications be approved.

Government legislation changes implemented from April states ‘to provide further support for housebuilding, a new Consultation Direction will be made this month specifying that where a Local Planning Authority (LPA) intends to refuse planning permission for a housing scheme of 150 dwellings or more, they must consult the Secretary of State to enable Ministers to decide whether to use their existing powers to call in that planning application.’ This raised concerns that applications may be considered more favourably for approval by central government. Whilst this is discretionary rather than compulsory and does not change the stance of the council that the applications should be refused, members discussed what essential infrastructure needs should form part of any outline approval and form part of S106 funding. Any council requests will only be submitted should an authority be minded to approve an application. The demands should be specific to each site, of a detailed specification, deliverable, and with clear reasoning to support the request. The committee should avoid demands that are covered in reserved matters.  Examples of outline matters include leisure, highways, drainage, education, biodiversity net gain (BNG) and health provision. The three applications for further addendum considerations are:

• 25/41516/OUT (Bloor, north of Stafford Road, ECC06)
• 25/41443/OUT (Bellway, Stone Road, ECC02)
• 25/41542/OUT (Taylor Wimpey, Shaws Lane, ECC14)

In order for all members to duly consider and put forward suggestions, it was agreed for the Clerk to circulate previous documents on infrastructure concerns, and for all members to submit specific suggestions for consideration at the next planning meeting.

It was also observed that the Grampian conditions requested by Severn Trent to delay connection of properties to the drainage network until March 2030, to allow for the infrastructure to be in place, would mean that properties would not be contributing to the immediate housing supply shortage.

 115/26).  Correspondence:-

• There was no correspondence for consideration.

 116/26).   Date and venue for next meeting:

Wednesday 3^rd June 2026, at Eccleshall Community Centre, at 7.30pm

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.35pm.