Statement on the Withdrawal of our Planning Application

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The Trustees have now requested Stafford Borough Council planning department to withdraw the current planning application (20/32512/FUL for the recently purchased land, north of Derrington Millennium Green.
 

The plans we had submitted were for:

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• Change of use from agricultural to Nature Reserve.

• Create wetland areas to accommodate increased flood water to help elevate flooding downstream, and create wetland wildlife habitat.

• Provide a hard-standing path to benefit wheelchair users.
   

Unfortunately there have been a number of objections to our plans, with the majority focused on the provision of additional car parking for visitors to alleviate parking in Church Lane, which did increased during the Covid lock-down, but has since reduced.
 

To help alleviate parking pressures our volunteers worked hard to create additional spaces down the lane, and on the Millennium Green car park, but at present we are unable to do any more. People parking cars in Church Lane to use the Church, the Children Play Area and Sports Field, Duddas Wood, the Greenway Walking & Cycle Route as well as Local Footpaths is beyond our control.
 

Any car parking issues in Derrington will have to be resolved through our Parish, Borough and County Councils, and not just by the Millennium Green.
 

However the good news is, we have secured the protection of valuable flood meadows, and can still continue the important work of habitat creation for local wildlife and tree planting, whilst providing much needed access to green open space via permitted paths. The area will be managed in line with the Government’s Environmental Land Management Scheme, which is a 25 year initiative to promote sustainable ecosystem recovery.
 

The sad news is that at present we won’t be able to provide a hard-standing path for wheelchairs access, and there may be a delay in digging out the scrapes.

The Trustees would like to thank all of the supporters of this project.

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