Decision delayed on new South Staffordshire homes after concerns raised about road safety

Councillors have delayed their decision on controversial plans for up to 65 new homes on the edge of a South Staffordshire village after concerns were raised about road safety.

More than 130 objections were submitted to South Staffordshire District Council in response to the application for land west of Clive Road, Pattingham. There was also a submission from MP Mike Wood.

Objectors highlighted loss of agricultural land in the Green Belt, as well as insufficient visibility displays at the proposed access to the new housing development and a nearby bend on Clive Road.

But a report to South Staffordshire District Council’s Planning Committee said no objections had been raised by Staffordshire County Council’s Highways department, subject to conditions, and the site could be considered “Grey Belt”.

Resident Keith Moseley told Tuesday’s planning committee meeting: “The proposed access (from Clive Road) is not compliant.

“The access should have visibility splays of 2.4 by 70 metres- because the developer doesn’t own enough land, he can only achieve 2.4 by 49 one way and 2.4 by 47 the other way.

“The proposed junction itself is only 20m away from the blind bend, which at the moment has a speed limit of 60 miles an hour. At 60 miles per hour, it will take you 73m to stop, and that’s in good weather conditions.

“The developer is having to propose a footpath going on the opposite side of the site, which is in itself going to create pedestrians going across that road at a similar point. The site will introduce up to about 300 traffic movements a day – this coming off a blind bend 20 metres away.

“God forbid  there’s an accident there – and really God forbid there’s a fatality – because this junction is extremely dangerous.

“If you have any issues with this access and what it could convey in the future, I would respectfully request you defer for a site visit with the highway officer to explain why he feels this is safe enough to be put there, so you can make your decision with a good conscience.”

Megan Wilson, who spoke in support of the application, said safe and suitable access had been demonstrated and can be achieved for the site.

She said the development would enable the delivery of “much-needed new homes in a sustainable location”.

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She said: “The proposal will deliver 65 new homes in a mix of types and sizes, including affordable housing and bungalows, helping to meet chronic local housing need.

“In Pattingham, housing prices have increasingly home ownership beyond the reach of local people, including young families wishing to remain within the village community – equally, those looking to downsize struggle to find suitable properties to meet their needs in later life.

“Officers agree the site can be classified as Grey Belt, as it makes only a limited contribution to the fundamental purposes of the Green Belt, and as such its development would not constitute inappropriate development.

“National policy is clear that Grey Belt land should be considered as a potential location for suitable growth to meet growing housing needs – this proposal does exactly that.

“The local highways authority has carefully reviewed the proposals and has no objection, concluding the site is a sustainable and accessible location, and having confirmed the proposals are supported by a safe and suitable access for vehicles and pedestrians.

“The proposals include new signage and traffic calming features to reduce northern vehicular speed; a new footway alongside the vehicle access onto Clive Road will connect the existing footways towards High Street, supported by a new pedestrian crossing.”

The application had been recommended for approval by council officers ahead of Tuesday’s planning committee meeting (August 18). But it was deferred to a later meeting.

The decision came after a  site visit took place for the committee on Monday (August 17).

Coun Christopher Steel called for the application to be deferred, so another visit could take place to consider details that had not previously been available to members.

He said: “It’s most unfortunate that only five of us went on the site visit yesterday, because if the other seven members here tonight had gone, they’d have seen what we saw.

“I specifically asked a question on the site visit regarding the footpath – we didn’t have the plan yesterday.

“I said ‘surely people are going to walk down this road without a footpath, irrespective of whether there’s other access for pedestrians’.

“We were told there would be no pedestrian access. I feel we ought to be deferring this for another site visit so  everybody can see it, armed with all the correct information.

“There was confusion about where the footpath ended – I hadn’t got a clue. If I had seen that (plan) yesterday, I would have been able to work out exactly what it is.”