Hundreds attend walk protesting 1,500 homes
BBCHundreds of people have attended a protest walk opposing the number of planned new homes in a Staffordshire town.
About 400 residents turned out at the demonstration in Eccleshall on Saturday amid concerns over the impact of the proposed green belt housing developments.
According to campaign group Save Eccleshall, developers are proposing to build more than 1,500 new homes across green belt sites.
During the protest walk, which began at 10:00 BST, resident Martin Peet said he wanted to "send a message" that developers could not "build on our countryside the way you want to".
He told BBC Midlands Today there were enough brownfield sites – previously-developed land – that could be used to build houses.
"Leave our countryside alone and build on these other areas without taking what is so precious to us because once it's gone, it never comes back," he added.
'Town won't cope'
Save Eccleshall claimed the additional houses would bring almost 3,700 more residents to the town, which the group said had a population of 3,230.
Others at the protest said the current infrastructure would not be able to manage the increase.
One demonstrator, Elizabeth, told the BBC: "I accept we need more housing but the amount being planned at the moment is just too much for the community to absorb.
"The whole infrastructure we've got won't cope with all this… it's just too much for a small community like this to take on board."
The planned housing has been earmarked for 10 different sites which have been submitted for Stafford Borough Council's local plan:
- Off Cross Butts – 48 houses
- South of Stone Road – 150 houses
- Green Lane – 86 houses
- South of Shaws Lane – 32 houses
- Between Stone and Stafford Roads – 500 houses
- North of Stone Road, East of Burgage – 396 houses
- South of Shaws Lane – 55 houses
- North of Burgage – 58 houses
- North of Shaws Lane – 150 houses
- East of Castle Street – 59 houses
The BBC has contacted Stafford Borough Council for a response to the concerns raised at the protest.
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