The 27.31ha site consists of two parcels either side of Coulter Lane – a larger parcel to the west and a smaller one to the east side of the lane. The site occupies an infill location between the St. Matthew’s development to the east and Fulfen Primary School to the west, with the urban areas of Burntwood beyond. The main urban area of Burntwood lies to the south and west, including a number of existing properties on Church Road and Upfields.
There are currently no public rights of way providing public access to the site.
No development is proposed in the eastern parcel of the site in the outline planning application. The application site now consists of the c22.79ha western parcel only.
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Bloor Homes is preparing an outline planning application for a landscape-led new neighbourhood at Coulter Lane, which would provide:
- Up to 250 high-quality family and affordable homes, with a mix of house types and sizes proposed, including the potential to provide bungalows.
- Affordable housing potentially local policy (28%) plus additional 15% in line with grey belt policy – ie. up to 43% affordable housing.
- Development significantly scaled back from that proposed during consultation, with key changes including:
- Parcel at Coulter Lane removed from the proposals. No development east of Coulter Lane.
- Number of homes reduced by at least 50, from the up to 300 proposed during consultation to up to 250 in the outline planning application.
- Development removed from the land east of Upfields.
- Community hub proposed for the Church Road frontage removed in response to community feedback.
- Additional landscape planting to protect the setting of listed cottage on Church Road.
- More than two-thirds of the site retained as open space, including:
- Extensive new landscaped public open spaces
- Green corridors
- Biodiversity areas
- A network of public walking and cycling routes
- Play areas
- Allotments
- Sustainable drainage system providing wetland habitats
- The retention of existing mature trees and majority of hedgerows, with additional planting, to significantly increase tree cover across the site.
- Significant financial contributions to invest in local infrastructure such as healthcare, education etc.
The development has been significantly scaled back from that proposed during consultation, with key changes including:
- Parcel at Coulter Lane removed from the proposals. No development east of Coulter Lane.
- Number of homes reduced by at least 50, from the up to 300 proposed during consultation to up to 250 in the outline planning application.
- Development removed from the land east of Upfields.
- Community hub proposed for the Church Road frontage removed in response to community feedback.
- Additional landscape planting to protect the setting of listed cottage on Church Road.
Increased housing targets for Lichfield District
The site has been promoted through Lichfield District Council's emerging Local Plan since 2015. As a result of that process, part of the site was previously safeguarded to meet future housing need in the emerging Local Plan. However, that plan was withdrawn from examination in October 2023, with Lichfield District Council restarting the preparation of a new Local Plan.
Lichfield District Council SHLAA assesses the site as “Suitable”, “Available” and “Achievable”.
Since the Local Plan process was restarted, the government introduced a new Nation Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2024. This has increased the number of homes that need to be delivered in Lichfield District from 289 to 753 new homes per annum, an increase of 260%.
Grey belt
A new grey belt policy was also introduced in the NPPF. This allows development in some areas of green belt, provided certain criteria are met. Grey belt includes land that ‘does not strongly contribute’ to green belt purposes which are set out in the NPPF. The site at Coulter Lane is surrounded by existing development to the west, east and south. It therefore meets the criteria for grey belt land and is being brought forward for a sensitive, landscape-led sustainable infill residential development on this basis.
Five-year housing land supply
The new NPPF also requires that Lichfield District Council is able to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. This is the amount of land that the Council must identify to ensure there are sufficient deliverable sites for residential development over the next five years. Lichfield District Council currently can only demonstrate an approximately 3.65 year supply of deliverable housing land. In light of this, an outline planning application for grey belt land at Coulter Lane is now being brought forward to contribute to meeting this housing delivery shortfall, rounding off the settlement edge at a sustainable, infill location.
An outline planning application establishes the broad principles of development, such as access arrangements, illustrative concept layout, number of homes and general extent of development.
If outline planning consent is granted, a detailed planning application called a Reserved Matters planning application would be prepared. This would include more detail such as architecture, materials, detailed layout and landscaping, and would be subject to further consultation with the local community before being submitted for determination. Both outline and Reserved Matters planning applications are subject to Statutory Consultation carried out by the Local Planning Authority (Lichfield District Council).
The planning application is an outline planning application. This type of planning application sets out the broad principles of development, such as maximum number of homes, an illustrative layout and site access arrangements. Should outline planning permission be received, finer details such as specific house types, detailed layout, architecture etc would be subject to a subsequent further planning application (called a Reserved Matters planning application). This would involve further consultation with the community.
While house types would be determined at the Reserved Matters planning stage, we have provided imagery of existing Bloor Homes developments on this website to provide an idea of the types of high-quality homes we build.
Yes, as the site is being proposed for development as a grey belt site, up to 43% of the new homes would be classified as affordable homes in line with national policy (28% requirement from local policy, plus 15% uplift in line with grey belt policy). This will provide opportunities for those on lower incomes with connections to the local area to secure a home of their own. Affordable housing is anticipated to be provided in a mix of affordable rent and shared ownership homes, however this will be determined in consultation with Lichfield District Council’s Housing Team.
We are happy to work with Lichfield District Council for Local Occupancy Criteria to be applied to the affordable housing provision, ensuring that it is prioritised for people with local connections if this is a priority in community feedback.
Bloor Homes does build bungalows and there is the potential to provide a number of bungalows as part of the housing mix at Burntwood.
We know that sustainability is hugely important to communities across the country. The new homes for Burntwood will be built to be energy efficient. It is anticipated that the neighbourhood could be gas-free, with homes provided with measures such as air source heat pumps solar panels and the use of the latest materials and techniques to maximise insulation, air tightness and heat recovery, will create an uplift in energy efficiency of 75-80%.
The new homes will incorporate sanitaryware and appliances that meet the highest water efficiency standards.
Electric vehicle (EV) charging points will be provided for all homes with on plot parking, together with access to communal EV charging points for the whole neighbourhood. We are also happy to approach commercial operators with a view to the provision of EV charging at the proposed community car park if there is local demand.
To minimise the impact of construction, we always aim to procure materials from sustainable sources and recycle construction waste as far as is possible.
Existing mature trees and the majority of hedgerows will be retained, with development parcels shaped by existing field patterns. Extensive additional planting will deliver a significant increase in tree cover across the site.
The Environment Agency’s Flood Map for Planning confirms that the area within the site to be developed is located within Flood Zone 1 and therefore has the lowest probability of flooding (less than a 0.1% annual chance). There are areas of the site within Flood Zones 2 and 3 (medium to high flood risk) along the route of the existing watercourse which flows south-to-north through the eastern area of the site. This area will be kept clear of development.
The Outline planning application is supported by a Transport Assessment which assesses the impact of the development proposals on the local and wider highway network. Bloor Homes is engaging with the Local Highways Authority to help inform the development proposals and any local highways improvements that will be delivered as part of the scheme.
More than two-thirds of the overall development site will be retained as open space, including play areas, landscaped public open space, areas for informal play, a network of new walking and cycling routes, allotments and biodiversity areas.
A key consideration with a planning proposal such as this is to ensure that local services receive the investment they need to accommodate housing growth in the local area. The development will generate investment into local infrastructure such as healthcare and education, and this will be informed by consultation carried out by Lichfield District Council with statutory bodies such as the local NHS Integrated Care Board and the local education authority and will be secured via legal agreement between Bloor Homes and the Council.
To ensure that the impact of construction is kept to a minimum, a Construction Management Plan is being prepared and will form part of the planning conditions of any outline planning permission.
The planning application documentation can be viewed via this link, where Lichfield District Council’s statutory consultation on the submitted plans can also be accessed (please quote reference 25/01485/OUTM).