Campaigners battling plans for 300 new homes

Residents of a Staffordshire village say plans to build 300 new homes "change the nature" of the area.

The final draft of Newcastle Borough Council’s local plan has earmarked three green belt sites in Talke - subject to approval at the next full council meeting on Wednesday 24 July.

Land at Crown Bank has been allocated 170 homes, land off Coppice Road could see 90 homes and land off St Martins Road could get 40 new houses.

The council said it was "obliged" to develop a local plan to identify where homes, business and public facilities could be built to meet recognised needs.

Members of Talke Action Group (TAG) have voiced concerns that if all these developments are built, their village will be turned into a ‘"dormitory town".

Lawrence Tudin, vice-chair, said: "Adding another 300 homes would change the nature of the village.

"[It] would be increasing the size of Talke by a quarter or a fifth.

“And Talke doesn’t have the infrastructure to support that increase in population."

Mr Tudin added: "The suspicion is that these homes are going to be aimed at commuters who work in Manchester, as Talke is very close to the M6.

"So they’re not going to be for local people. Talke would become something like a dormitory town.”

Councillor Andrew Fear said that the council developed the local plan with an obligation to identify where new homes, businesses and facilities could be built to the meets of the borough. He said this included protecting 60 green spaces.

He added: "When sites in the plan are put forward seeking planning permission, developers are often required to make financial contributions which are used towards infrastructure such as the creation of additional school places, health centres and road junctions."

A final draft is expected to be submitted before the end of the year and will likely involve public hearings in 2025.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.