A planning application to convert land on Red Lane into a mixture of offices, vehicle and material storage has been lodged with South Staffordshire Council. It has come to light that a previous application on the same land was granted for a builders’ yard on the land without public consultation. Local residents along Sunningdale Road have complained that the land was previously used for horse grazing and the new development has changed the character of the area. Marco Longhi MP met with residents on-site today to discuss information that had been sent to him from residents and to formulate a plan of action.
Marco says "on previous developments inside South Staffordshire, the council has said it was under no obligation to consult the residents who lived in Dudley, despite agreeing that it would be good practice to do so. I have seen clearly that there have been cherry pickers and large salt piles, and about 32 skylights which light up a very rural area and cause high light pollution".
Our precious green belt is under constant attack and what we could be seeing here is an underhand tactic by a developer who appears to have obtained planning consent from South Staffordshire Council stating that the land was always operating as a builders yard. Residents locally confirm that it has always been land for horse grazing.
"They now wish to change the use of this land again and it wouldn’t surprise me if in the not-so-distant future, this land having become a brownfield site, might be turned into land for residential development. It is incumbent on South Staffordshire Council to rectify this situation. I am disgusted at what is happening and will be writing to the planning ombudsman, the environment agency, Dudley Council, as well as raising this in Parliament at the soonest opportunity.
"I would like to urge all local residents to email South Staffordshire Council with their objections and complaints about the current use of the site, requesting that this application is not considered until lawful use is established. Residents can email: [email protected]". The deadline is Sunday 9th January so there is no time to waste!
