The Stafford Borough Plan - A Missed Opportunity

These pages (Borough Plan and Burleyfields) follow the 'saga' of the Stafford Borough Plan which was initially published in 2011. It was greeted with mixed feelings in Doxey since it confirmed the earlier allocation of the area south of 'Doxey Road' for housing development but provided a framework to ensure that developers provided adequate facilities and that local residents were consulted. It was felt that when the developments took place they would provide extra benefits for the area such as shops, a medical centre and improved and extended recreational facilities.

Unfortunately the good intentions failed as soon as the first planning application was received. The Borough Council allowed the developers to ignore the procedures laid down and took no notice of the consultations that did take place.

The Plan as finally adopted in June 2014 can be read here

This first part of the development - Mallard Walk is now (Feb 2017) underway and local residents will have to see how it turns out.

nb. The items on these pages are generally presented as they were originally published. The layout may have changed but the content hasn't [apart from deleting references to 'long departed' web pages]. They may not provide a complete (or unbiased !) point of view.

Initial Draft Publication (Sept-2011)

The Plan for for Stafford Borough

Big changes for Doxey ?

A new draft plan has been published for Stafford Borough.

In it are proposals for building over 5,500 new houses in sites to the North , East and West of Stafford.

The plan for Western Stafford will have huge implications for Doxey.

The main proposal is to allow 2,200 houses to be built with 'retail facilities, a primary school, a library service, health facilities and public open space'. In addition there will be additional business space to create new jobs.

The area involved (see Map below) is almost all the remaining open space between Doxey, Castletown, Castlefields, Stafford Golf Club and the M6. It includes :

The plan will be going out for consultation during September and October. We will be invited to comment.

In total the proposals provide for an extra 7,000 houses in Stafford Borough these would be split

Where can you see the plans ?

[Currently (20th Sept 2011) the plans are described on the Stafford Borough website :]

A summary of the plans has been published as a booklet which should be generally available. The procedure for making comments will be made clear.

The plans raise some interesting points

Notes

The Plan for Western Stafford

Areas affected by the plan

(click on map for larger version)

-The beige coloured areas are allocated to 'Housing' including services and associated open space.

-The blue areas are for 'Employment' (offices, warehouse workshops etc)

-The dark red roads are part the proposed new Western Access Route on which the Development plans seem to depend. The lighter red roads are the links to existing roads. (nb. the line of the roads within the new development have not been decided)

Note: This map is NOT OFFICIAL - it is only our understanding of the areas affected and possible road lines.

Parish Meeting to discuss plans (Oct-2011)

Parish Meeting to discuss Borough Plan - 6th October at William Sutton Centre

At a meeting attended by about 20 people, the Borough Council's development plan for the next 20 years was discussed. Most of discussion centred on the plan to allow the building of an additional 2,200 houses in the area between Castletown, Doxey and the Castle.

The main concern was that if the houses had to be built, and not everyone was convinced they all had to be, the road system should be put in place ahead of any building. The existing road from Castletown is already very busy during rush hours with traffic from outlying villages such as Seighford, Haughton and Gnosall as well as Doxey. If the road is blocked for any reason the emergency services cannot react to accidents on the M6 in the minimum acceptable time.

The draft Borough Plan states that "Development west of Stafford will need the Western Access Improvement Scheme to be delivered between Martin Drive and Doxey Road with associated junction improvements due to lack of local road network connections". This was emphasised by our Parish Councillors, our two Borough Councillors (Peter Goodland and Isabella Davies), our County Councillor, Mark Winnington and James Cantrill representing our MP Jeremy Lefroy.

The 'zoning' of some areas for housing/employment raised some concerns :

At the end of meeting the chairman Nigel Barnett asked everyone who had concerns to write/email to the Borough with copies to the Parish Council.

A booklet is available from the Borough Council

Comments can be made (by 21st October) by letter, email or online

[ nb. links to deleted pages removed ]

Results of Consultation (Dec 2011?)

Borough Plan - Initial Consultation ended - We await the result

The initial consultation period on the Borough Plan has now ended.

The borough has received over 1000 comments and over 600 people attended the various meetings.

[The Borough Council has produced a newsletter on the plan and the next stages.]

The following is taken from the newsletter

Overall the main comments received during the exhibitions included:

  • Concerns over road infrastructure and its ability to accommodate increased traffic from new development
  • Development must be accompanied by increases in services for the local community such as health centres, local shops, community hall, recreation facilities and additional schools provision
  • New developments should accommodate a range of different age groups as well as mix of households, particularly affordable housing for young people. Housing should also be well designed and incorporate energy efficient technology.
  • Priority should be given to increasing the amount of open space with easy access to the open countryside as well as providing areas for wildlife
  • Provision should be made for better public transport as well as cycle and pedestrian routes

The above concerns reflect those that were made by Doxey residents and the exhibitions and the public meeting.

The 'final' plan should be published in Jan-Feb 2012, submitted to the Secretary of State in spring with a public examination in the summer before adoption at the 'end of 2012'.

Amended : 15-11-19
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