Up to 70 homes planned for village near Rugeley

 An outline planning application has been submitted to Lichfield District Council for the development on Lichfield Road, outside Kings Bromley.

The proposal would see the development of new houses, road improvements including a new T-junction on Lichfield Road, as well as new pedestrian walkways linking the estate to the wider Lichfield area. The plans would use the 3.87 hectare site's existing hedgerows and trees, as well as new open space to provide a minimum of 10 per cent biodiversity net gain.

Currently the application has received two comments in support of the application.

Resident Harman Rai said: “Supporting this development could help keep Kings Bromley a thriving and sustainable village. By providing new homes, especially for young families and those looking to downsize, it allows local people to stay in the community and keeps essential services like the school, pub, and village hall alive.”

The statement of community involvement, submitted by the applicant, states that 500 leaflets containing information about the development were delivered to residents. In total only 11 responses were received, which the document states indicates that the development is ‘uncontentious’ and based on the submitted feedback 70 per cent provided a level of support for the scheme.

Kings Bromley Parish Council was set to discuss the proposal at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday (July 9), but in a meeting in May this year councillors raised a number of concerns involving increased traffic in nearby Crawley Lane. Additionally, the development could add to the village’s flooding issues.

The council also recognised the need for more houses in the area but considered 70 too many and considered infill and organic growth of no more than 30 new houses would be appropriate. The impact of already existing services such as schools and GP surgeries were also discussed.

It is also planned that the development would see 28 per cent affordable housing delivered, split between 65 per cent socially rented and 35 per cent shared ownership. Financial contributions would be made to the number 12 bus service; primary and secondary schools if additional capacity is required; and local healthcare provision, if required.

The planning statement submitted by Evolve Planning on behalf of the applicant states that it is ‘imperative’ to boost the supply of housing to meet current targets.

It reads: “It is imperative that the council boost the supply of housing within the district. The council is therefore reliant on sustainable locations coming forward now to help reduce this deficit and meet the Government’s objective to boost the supply of housing as outlined in the recent planning reforms.”

The design and access statement states: “The key objective of these proposals is to create a high quality landscape-led development, providing 70 new homes in an integrated neighbourhood. It will be sensitively set within its landscape context, establishing a strong green and blue infrastructure network in a highly sustainable location.

“A pedestrian route will be integrated to connect the existing PROW and connect to the surrounding region. Alongside this a number of key amenities will be provided to serve the local community with views of historic buildings retained and framed.”

As the current application is an outline, if approved a more detailed application will be submitted at a later date which will contain more detailed information on the matters reserved including design of the homes and landscaping. The application and all supporting documents can be viewed on the council’s planning portal under reference number 25/00724/OUTM.

Planning officers at Lichfield District Council are now set to consider the application.