3,000 homes and 50 traveller sites planned in Cannock Chase masterplan
[gallery]Thousands of homes and dozens of gipsy pitches will be created in Cannock Chase over the next decade under a new masterplan.
Council leader George Adamson said: "The plans will change the face of Cannock Chase as we know it."
The district council has earmarked several sites for housing in order to provide land for the development of around 3,000 homes between now and 2028. Fifty new gipsy pitches and plots will also be earmarked.
Swathes of greenbelt land have also been identified, which could accommodate housing beyond that.
The district may also have to deliver a further 1,000 properties to cater for a shortfall in Birmingham.
The Rugeley Power Station site could hold the key to meeting a significant proportion of the housing targets. A public consultation has now been launched and will run until the end of March.
Councillor Adamson said: "The area is changing rapidly, if you look back 20 years it is completely unrecognisable.
"That is why we want people to have their say. It is not a pretend consultation."
The largest plots include the former Parker Hannifin site at Walkmill Lane, Cannock, which could take 93 homes, land opposite Hednesford Town FC, which could hold 90 properties, and the former Aelfgar School site in Rugeley where 85 have been earmarked.
The council could opt for an alternative strategy targeting plots where its has already approved building.
That would see plots at Norton Hall Lane, Norton Canes, earmarked for 450 homes and the site at Green Heath Road in Hednesford where work has already started on 414 homes, shoulder much of the burden.
Six 'drop-in' events have been scheduled with the first at Norton Canes Library between 3.30pm and 6.30pm on February 16.
