Council adopts Local Plan for the Moorlands

Published on 21 September 2020

The Local Plan - the District's key planning document which will shape development in the Staffordshire Moorlands up to 2033 - has been formally adopted by the Council.

The Plan allocates land for new housing, employment and other uses and protects important assets such as green belts and conservation areas as well as setting the policies which will be used to determine planning applications.

Council Leader, Councillor Sybil Ralphs, said: "The adoption of the Local Plan for the Staffordshire Moorlands is great news for all those that live, work and visit here - it means we are in charge of our own destiny in relation to how the District is developed in the coming years.

"This has been one of the most significant projects we have undertaken in recent years and one which affects every area of the District so this is a great achievement. I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in helping us reach this point - not least our staff who have worked so hard to complete this major piece of work."

The full Plan and the accompanying policies map will be published on the Council's website later this month.

Councillor Edwin Wain, Cabinet Member for Planning, Development and Property, said: "This is a milestone moment and the culmination of an enormous effort over the last six years which has included several periods of public consultation and many redrafts to take account of the comments we received from residents and businesses as well as public examination of the Plan by a Government Inspector.

"People can now be assured that planning applications from house extensions to major residential developments will be determined in line with the policies and principles set out in the Plan which has been widely consulted on before being agreed."