1,430 fighting golf club plans to sell off Green Belt land for housing

HUNDREDS of residents are fighting a golf club's plans to sell off Green Belt land for housing.

- Phil Corrigan

Fields owned by Trentham Golf Club, next to the A34 Stone Road, have been earmarked for up to 500 homes in Stoke-on-Trent City Council's draft local plan.

The golf club says that developing the land will help safeguard its future and provide 'much-needed' housing in Stoke-on-Trent.

But a total of 1,430 people have backed a petition calling for the site to be removed from the local plan, which, once adopted, will guide all development in the city up to 2040.

Objectors say that hundreds more homes in the area will exacerbate the existing traffic problems on the A34, while also putting extra pressure on local schools and GP surgeries.

Lead petitioner Sonia Harley believes that the council should be prioritising development on brownfield sites in the city.

In her petition, she says: "This development would cause irreversible harm to our natural environment, local heritage, infrastructure and community well-being. The proposed development in Trentham falls within Green Belt, a designation created to prevent urban sprawl, protect the countryside and preserve the character of rural communities. Building on here directly violates policies to protect such spaces.