Richborough awarded rare permission in Green Belt
Cannock Chase District Council has decided that an application for 130 homes on the edge of Norton Canes should be approved in the Green Belt following a long-term planning promotion by Birmingham-based Richborough Estates.
It was necessary for Richborough Estates to demonstrate that its proposal involved very special circumstances and on balance, housing in this location would not pose harm to the Green Belt.
Importantly, the proposal did not present the possibility of coalescence with neighbouring settlements such as Brownhills and the site is contained by a number of roads on its borders in particular the M6 Toll road. The site was not considered to have any special landscape character, was overgrown and unsightly and there was insufficient land available within Cannock Chase to meet the Council’s housing targets.
The 21 acre site is situated on Brownhills Road and was previously operated as a dog racing track and nursery land which after a long period of operation fell into disuse and the land subsequently naturalised into its countryside surroundings.
After a long period of negotiation with Cannock Chase District Council and the Parish Council, it was clear that a number of local amenities would need to be improved if the application was to be successful. Therefore, Richborough addressed each issue and agreed to deliver affordable housing, contributions towards improving a traffic island, public open space with play facilities, football facilities, improved area for horse grazing and a large commuted sum towards a brand new sports hall in the centre of Norton Canes.
Richborough’s Paul Campbell stated “We are very pleased that through working closely with the Parish and District Council we have managed to secure unanimous approval from the planning committee for a substantial housing scheme in some challenging circumstances. People living in Norton Canes who are seeking new housing will certainly benefit and of course new people from outside the area will also be attracted. This combined with improvements to local amenities, can only be good news for the area and we look forward to seeing Norton Canes thrive in the future”.