Site Location and Context
The site is approximately 6.2 hectares in size and currently used for the grazing of animals. The land gradually rises from the road towards Blackies Lane which is a public right of way and access track which crosses the site. Beyond the lane, the land rises again towards the existing residential properties of the Aston Lodge Park estate. The site’s boundaries are marked by existing hedgerows. A belt of trees crosses the centre of the site following Blackies Lane and a watercourse.
The site is approximately 1.5 miles away from Stone Railway Station and Stone town centre which includes a range of facilities, services and shops including a large Morrisons supermarket, with petrol filling station add a range of restaurants, pubs and other town centre uses.
Several bus services run from the town centre (Radford Street, Morrisons, Stafford Road) which provide busses between Stone, Barlaston, Hanley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Yarnfield, Walton Hill and Eccleshall.
Overall, the site is situated in a highly sustainable location.
Planning Policy
The Adopted Development Plan includes the Plan for Stafford Borough Part 1 and Part 2. The Local Plan sets out the vision, spatial principles, and specific policies, to guide development across the Borough from 2011-2031.
Five-year housing land supply position
Planning law requires applications to be determined in accordance with the development plan, but it is important to note that the council cannot currently demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land, only able to demonstrate 3.37 years of deliverable housing land against their annual housing requirement of 786 dwellings per year.
Paragraph 11d of the National Planning Policy Framework advises that policies which are the most important for determining the application are out of date if the LPA cannot demonstrate a 5-year supply of housing land or it has failed the Housing Delivery Test. The tilted balance at 11d (ii) is therefore engaged and planning permission should be approved unless the adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the policies of the Framework as a whole.
