'If approved, this development would increase the size of our village by over 32.5 per cent in one go' - Your Letters: August 20
PICTURE FROM THE ARCHIVE: A congregation assembles for an outside service on the first Sunday after a bomb destroyed All Saints Church in Walsall Road, Darlaston, in 1942. It was the only parish church in the Lichfield diocese to be destroyed by enemy action during bombing in the Second World War.
HOUSING PLAN IS SO FRUSTRATING
As a lifelong local resident who grew up in High Offley and now lives in Barn Common, I am deeply concerned — and frankly frustrated — about the current planning application for 100 new houses on land off Dicky’s Lane, Woodseaves (Planning Application 25/40683/OUT).
If approved, this development would increase the size of our village by over 32.5 per cent in one go. That’s hundreds more people, cars, and children, and yet the developer is offering no meaningful investment into infrastructure and facilities our community desperately needs.
Here’s the most frustrating part: this nine-hectare site actually has the space to deliver something amazing for Woodseaves. We could have a multi-sports facility with a full-sized football pitch and a cricket pitch — building on the village’s sporting heritage. And we could have a sports pavilion that could serve as a hub for community events. There could also be improvements to Woodseaves Primary School, including safe drop-off zones, a new car park, and expanded facilities.
These facilities would not only help integrate new residents into village life, but would also fix long-standing problems for our current population. Our football team has no home pitch and has had to play at Knight Sports & Social Club and now at Creswell in Stafford - miles from the community it represents. Our cricket enthusiasts have no local pitch to play on. And our school has just 26 spare places - nowhere near enough for the children this development could bring.
This is not anti-housing sentiment, it’s common sense. If a developer is going to profit from building 100 houses here, then they should be made to invest back into the village through Section 106 contributions and on-site facilities. That’s how planning is supposed to work — growth that benefits everyone, not just the developer’s shareholders.
