South Staffs backs Wheaton Aston housing development amid opposition

Plans to build 46 homes in a South Staffordshire village have been given the thumbs up by council planners, despite almost 350 objections to the proposals.

Lichfield land promoter Hampton Oak lodged an application for the five-acre plot just outside the western fringes of Wheaton Aston, around 10 miles north of Wolverhampton, in December last year.

Those outline plans were approved by South Staffordshire District Council’s planning committee this month, with a condition that 40% of the development is set aside for affordable housing, or 19 homes.

The scheme had proved controversial from the outset; the Fenton House Lane plot lies just outside the development boundary, in open countryside bordering the west of the village.

Lapley, Stretton and Wheaton Aston Parish Council were among the scheme’s 345 detractors, raising concerns over the site’s open countryside location and the effect of development on the nearby wetland meadow site, Mottey Meadows, a 100-acre National Nature Reserve.

Natural England describes the site as one of the best examples in the UK of wildflower rich, floodplain meadows, and the area has also been designated as a Special Area of Conservation by the European Union.

However, after reviewing an environmental assessment put forward by the applicant, Natural England raised no concerns about a potential knock-on effect for Mottey Meadows – a position which also satisfied the local authority’s ecologist.

“The proposed development is considered to be acceptable in principle, by reason of the sites sustainable location and the councils lack of housing land supply, despite its siting outside of the Wheaton Aston Development Boundary,” concluded South Staffordshire District Council’s planning officer.

“It has been demonstrated that the proposal would comprise sustainable development and subject to securing contributions via Section 106 agreement would provide improvements to the infrastructure within the local area and would make a meaningful contribution to the councils housing land supply.”

Vista providing planning consultancy for the application, and TAG provided designs for the outline masterplan.

Plans and documents relating to the application can be found on South Staffordshire’s planning portal using reference: 25/01040/OUTM