Decision to allow 800 homes 'gut-wrenching' for community

Stoke-on-Trent City Council's ruling cabinet has decided farmland it owns in Packmoor can be built on, with 816 homes proposed.

It is a decision that "cuts deep" for resident and campaigner Darren Bamford, who said he fought tirelessly to keep council-owned farmland in Packmoor protected from development.

"To me, that [decision] was absolutely gut wrenching. I'm filled with sadness, anger, frustration - ultimately it will forever change Packmoor," he said.

But the local authority's cabinet member for regeneration Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker has defended the move.

"This site is one of the most deliverable and develop-erable so it would be remiss of us to ignore it and exclude it," he said.

This decision comes as the city council is working to deliver 948 properties a year by 2029, to meet the government's housing target of building 1.5 million homes.

The authority consulted with residents in Packmoor over what to do with the council-owned site, made up of 200 acres of greenfield land, most of which is tenanted by farmers.

A number of proposals were put on the table, which included developing as many as 1,200 homes on the site. Another was to do nothing, and leave the land as it is.

Gordon-McCusker argues the council has listened to residents' concerns about losing green space by deciding that only 816 homes could be proposed, and argues that would only affect about 30% of that greenfield land.

For residents, this is more than a "not in my backyard issue" - there have been 1,300 signatures on a petition, and protests outside council meetings calling for the land to be protected.

So strong is the feeling in this community that ranks broke within the city council. David Mountford represents the Great Chell and Packmoor ward.

He defected from the Labour Party, which controls the authority, to join the new Potteries Party.

On social media, he described the decision as the result of "top-down politics".

Bamford argued he felt let down by elected officials, including by the local Labour MP.

"Maybe if they'd lobbied for us, it may have changed the results," he said.

"Our MP should hang his head in shame because he turned his back on Packmoor."

Bamford went on to say he felt it was clear the administration had shaped a consultation to get a "desired outcome" and that residents were planning a legal challenge.

Gordon-McCusker said it was the responsibility of the administration to look at the bigger picture of the city in reference to the 3,000 people on the housing waiting list.

When asked whether the 3,000 empty homes in the city could be used to address the shortage, he said they were "working at breakneck speed to get some of those homes back into use, as a result of Labour investment".

In a statement, David Williams the Labour MP for Stoke North said it was "untrue" that residents received "radio silence" from him:

"I understand why residents are concerned," he said.

"It would be politically easy for me to tell everybody that they are right, that no homes should be built and that all the difficult choices can simply disappear. But I will not pretend that we do not need decent and affordable homes for local people."

The decision for the land in Packmoor to be included in the local plan will need to be approved at Stoke-on-Trent City Council's full council meeting next week.

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