Country park and holiday lodge plans for former Staffordshire colliery site are set to be refused
Plans to transform a former colliery into a country park and holiday destination are set to be rejected by Cannock Chase councillors.
Rugeley's Brereton Colliery closed in 1960 and the site has since become grassland, with some woodland to the south, following approval of restoration proposals in 1998.
A proposal has come forward to turn the 28-hectare (69-acre) site on the southeast side of Colliery Road into a recreational country park. Car parking spaces and a visitor centre including a shop and café are also proposed, as well as a holiday park further into the site with 100 wooden lodges, new woodland planting and small ponds.
A design and access statement submitted as part of the application said the site was currently under restoration. The proposed country park would be open to the local community and visitors and would act as “an alternative public recreation resource to the more sensitive Cannock Chase SAC (Special Area of Conservation), thereby reducing pressure on this area and avoiding further growth in recreational pressure.”
It added: “This space is proposed to be managed as open grassland throughout the centre of the site with woodland retained as landscape screen and wildlife habitat around the periphery of the site. The proposal also includes an ancillary visitor centre with a reception to receive and administer visiting guests, with shop, café, small kitchen, toilets, site heritage interpretation and a residential unit for the site manager.
“High-quality holiday lodge accommodation will help to support the park and visitor centre. The income from the proposed lodges will help to fund the new park and visitor facility while the spending by the occupiers of the lodges will maintain a viable business after completion to continue operating the visitor centre and retaining and enhancing the park.”
Cannock Chase Council has received 15 public objections to the proposals however, raising concerns about a potential increase in antisocial behaviour, litter, traffic on Colliery Road and the ecological impact of the scheme. Friends of Cannock Chase have also objected due to highway safety concerns, pedestrian safety risks, proximity to ancient woodland and pressure on the AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).
The application has been recommended for refusal by council planning officers. It will be considered by the planning committee on Wednesday (March 5) at the request of the applicant.
A report to the planning committee said: “The site is in the West Midlands Green Belt, wherein there is a presumption against inappropriate development. Inappropriate development is, by definition, harmful to the Green Belt and should only be allowed where very special circumstances have been demonstrated to exist.
“The proposed development by virtue of its scale, siting and design would fail to preserve the openness of the Green Belt and would, by reason of encroachment, conflict with the purposes of including land within it and hence constitutes inappropriate development. It is concluded that the harm to the Green Belt is not clearly outweighed by other considerations and that very special circumstances to justify approval of the application have not been demonstrated to exist.
“The considerations advanced by the applicant in respect of the acceptability of the scheme and the Very Special Circumstances are not relevant. As to the economic and social benefits of the proposal it is considered that only very limited weight should be afforded to these factors.”
