200 NEW JOBS AS PART OF PLAN FOR FIVE MORE INDUSTRIAL UNITS
Councillors set to make a decision today
PLANS for five industrial units have been recommended for approval – despite objections from families living nearby.
Network Space wants to create around 116,000 square feet of employment space – nearly the size of two football pitches – in the second phase of the Tunstall Arrow development, on land off James Brindley Way.
A number of local residents, including some living in the nearby Brindley Village estate, have objected to the scheme, citing concerns over noise, loss of privacy and loss of leisure space, among other issues.
But planners at Stoke-on-trent City Council say that ‘on balance’ the scheme would result in ‘sustainable development’.
Members of the planning committee will make a decision when they meet today.
Network Space, which initially submitted its plans in January 2020, has previously said that the development would create around 200 jobs in light industry, general industry or storage and distribution.
The city council has received 36 written objections to the application from 19 different people.
One of the objectors, Alex Moran, wrote: “The proposed site would bring an incredible increase in noise and light pollution as well as a considerable, sustained detriment to the air quality. Something this city has recently come under severe pressure to alleviate.
“The industrial site will also impact on a popular walking route for both commuting and leisure purposes, which is crucial for children walking safely to school, away from the main road to and from both the Brindley Village estate and the neighbouring estate behind.
“The proposal in question is strongly and unanimously berated by the Brindley village community, as a development that prioritises profits over the health and well-being of the people of this city and the wildlife that lives amongst us.”
Gary Foster said: “Yet again I object because of all the extra noise and smell and the extra traffic it brings to an already busy road. Do we need this next to a family estate?”
The 7.3 acre site, which lies within the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone, was previously the site of a brick factory, which was demolished in 1913.
Since then the land has become naturalised, and two bridleways now cross the site, one of which will have to be realigned if the plans go ahead.
According to the planning report, concerns were raised about the initial scheme’s failure to integrate landscape into the proposals, with only ‘a marginal landscape buffer’.
Planning officer believe the applicants have responded to this criticism in their final design.
They also believe that concerns over things such as noise and light, drainage and traffic can be addressed through conditions attached to the planning permission.
The report states: “It is considered that the principle of development can be supported and that the scheme would deliver sustainable development with regeneration benefits including the beneficial re-use of a derelict site within the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone.
“Technical documents in support of the scheme illustrate that on balance the scheme would result in sustainable development.”
The officers recommend that there be a £44,750 contribution for the loss of grassland
habitat.