By Kerry Ashdown

Copyright expressandstar

Hundreds of new jobs are set to be created at the development, earmarked for 20 hectares (49 acres) of farmland next to Junction 13 of the M6, near Dunston, south of Stafford.

Developer St Modwen first put forward the proposals more than 18 months ago. Hundreds of people signed a petition opposing the development however, and South Staffordshire Council received 58 objections to the application.

Rob Stubbs, who spoke on behalf of the Dunston Local Development Group to oppose the plans at Tuesday’s (September 23) planning committee meeting, said: “Is this proposed development a need or a commercial want? It is a question that should be balanced against the impact on people’s lives, living standards, farming and the environment.

“The proposed development will be directly behind a row of houses and the small village school. The school has views across open farm and countryside and is a perfect place for children to be taught and develop.

“Instead the development will create a large bund blocking the entire view and replacing it with large industrial buildings, operating 24/7, increasing noise, air pollution and light pollution. The land is described as grade 2 very good quality agricultural land – best and most valuable.

“This land is not currently in the local development plan and should not be in our opinion. There is ample surplus capacity currently locally. Transport links are very low in the area currently, therefore more cars will come to the area.

“There are concerns about parking on the verges in Dunston village on School Lane, which already has bottlenecks when children are coming out of school. Turning on and off School Lane onto the A449 will be an increased hazard and safety risk, additionally heavy vehicles will further increase this risk coming off and getting onto the M6.”

Indurent Strategic Land was granted outline permission for the development on Tuesday by South Staffordshire Council’s planning committee. Ward councillor Sam Harper-Wallis proposed the application be refused, raising concerns about loss of best and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land, heritage harm and unsustainable travel patterns.

He said the application should be rejected on the grounds of prematurity, because the site was not in the authority’s adopted Local Plan. A new Local Plan for the district is at an advanced stage, having been submitted for to the Secretary of State for independent examination in December, and Councillor Harper-Wallis suggested that approving the development would prejudice the emerging Local Plan.

But his proposal was not seconded. The committee instead voted to approve the application.

Michael Davies from Savills, speaking in support of the application, said: “Indurent Park in Staffordshire will deliver a purpose-built employment destination adjacent to Junction 13 of the M6, and on a site that is identified for employment development in the council’s emerging Local Plan. The proposals provide a strategic opportunity on available land in a district which is otherwise largely constrained by the green belt – the application site is not green belt land.

“The intention is that the development will be built speculatively, delivering employment space, and thereby making an early commitment to investment in the district. This demonstrates Indurent’s confidence in the district for attracting inward investment, whilst also providing market-leading spaces for existing South Staffordshire businesses to expand and grow.

“Indurent’s proposals provide a different offer to the West Midlands Interchange scheme. Indurent will build mid-sized industrial and logistics units and these will range from around 50,000 sq ft to 170,000 sq ft, compared to the larger strategic scale industrial units that the West Midlands Interchange will offer, which will range from around 200,000 sq ft to upward of a million sq ft.

“The benefits of the scheme are wide-ranging and significant. A range of ecological and biodiversity enhancements will be provided and will deliver a biodiversity net gain well in excess of 10 per cent.

“A new access will be provided from the A449, away from the centre of Dunston, along with footpath and cycle improvements to the north of Junction 13 and south of Stafford, as well as providing improvements to bus stop facilities. HGV vehicles associated with the development will be restricted from using, and routed away, from School Lane, and working with St Leonard’s School, Indurent propose to provide a new drop off area to address the school’s current shortage of available parking spaces.”