Penkridge site could be set for development of 110 homes

The application for full planning permission for the building of the first 88 homes, at Cherrybook Drive has gone in to South Staffordshire Council from land consultants Lone Star Land and developers Persimmon Homes.

The council has already included the scheme in their current draft plan and it will go to consultation on February 16.

Plans for the new homes will include vehicle access, pedestrian links, public open space, landscaping and other associated works including the demolition of existing structures on land adjacent to the 4.2 hectares site, which lies off the Cannock Road in Penkridge and close to the M6.

The site has been allocated as ‘Safeguarded Land’ for future residential development since the adoption of the previous South Staffordshire Local Plan in 1996. 

This removed it from the Green Belt for the purpose of meeting future housing needs in the district, when the need arose. 

 A document from Lone Star Land Group says: "The site  comprises vacant agricultural land, which is currently used to graze sheep for a third of the year. 

"It is bound by a hedgerow along the northern boundary, a strip of broadleaved woodland to the east and a dense continuous scrub along the southern boundary with residential properties of Oakley Close, Kentmere Close, Prescott Drive and Little Marsh Grove. 

"The land was deleted from the Green Belt in the 1996 Local Plan and ‘safeguarded’ for future housing. 

"Penkridge is identified as a ‘large’ village in the existing core strategy settlement hierarchy and the council expect 90 per-cent of development in the plan period to be directed to the larger villages. 

"With the national planning policy aim of substantially boosting the supply of housing and the known requirement for South Staffordshire to accept some of the unmet housing need of the Black Country in related authorities the land at Cherrybrook Drive should be allocated for development now."

A document submitted by builders Persimmon Homes identifies Penkridge as a  “Main Service Village,” a first tier settlement and “the main focus for housing growth, employment development and service. 

South Staffordshire Council have received one objection from a resident of nearby Kentmere Close, off Cherrybrook Drive who is concerned about the potential increase of 176 plus vehicles per day accessing the site via their road. 

Penkridge Parish Council have launched a consultation on the scheme - it can be viewed on their website and submissions made via e-mail or by post,