'It will destroy the fabric of the town' - Staffordshire town uncertain about the future with fears of 'over-development' amid 1,000 new houses plan
There is scepticism and uncertainty among residents in a Staffordshire town at plans to build more to build more than 1,000 new houses in the area.
Eccleshall residents have spoken of their fear that their town could almost double in size over the coming years, with hundreds of new homes earmarked across several sites.
In July, Eccleshall Parish Council agreed a £10,000 budget to fight planning applications for large housing developments, which include sites on land north and south of Shaws Lane, between Stone and Stafford Roads, south of Stone Road and off Green Lane, with 1,534 new homes proposed across the 10 sites.
The campaign against the plans has been led by the Save Eccleshall group, a grassroots community group which said it was fighting back against multiple large-scale housing developments being forced on the historic rural town.
It said: "These proposals risk overwhelming our schools, roads, GPs, and destroying our green spaces. We’re standing together to protect the future of Eccleshall and we need your voice."
One of the leaders of the campaign is local businessman Martin Peet, who said he had lived in Eccleshall for 50 years and spoke about what his concerns were about the plans.
He said: "There's issues with gridlock at the moment, such as the fire station being blocked for 10 minutes last week because of a traffic gridlock at tea time, plus we have perpetual flooding and things like a lack of places in schools and three to four weeks wait for a doctors appointment.
"That's the current issues, then you add potentially 1,500 houses to that situation and we've got a big problem and there is no doubt that the infrastructure has got to be in place.
