A councillor has called for more to be done to ensure infrastructure is built alongside new houses in Lichfield and Burntwood.
Cllr Barry Gwilt’s comments come on the back of a report revealing that more than 9,700 new homes would be needed across the district in the next 20 years.
The Conservative representative for Fazeley ward was speaking at an overview and scrutiny meeting at Lichfield District Council where housing allocations in the draft Local Plan – including a major housing scheme in Mile Oak – were being debated.
Cllr Gwilt said residents were being short-changed by the volume of developments across the district.
“I feel sorry for Lichfield district – we’re getting hit with houses and we’re getting hit with HS2 which is destroying most of the area.
“What everyone raises to me as a councillor is that we build all these houses and we never fight for the infrastructure work to be done correctly or on time.
“It makes sense that if these developers want this work that they do the infrastructure first.
“There’s a precedent for this in Streethay where they were meant to put in certain congestion things, such as Trent Valley Island, which was meant to be sorted but the developer still hasn’t done it.
“We don’t hold developers to account.”
Cllr Barry Gwilt, Lichfield District Council
Cllr Gwilt said thousands of new homes would put pressure on local services which are already stretched.
“All we are doing in Lichfield is building more and more and more houses without putting in the infrastructure.
“Don’t just keep building houses.
“We’re told to go out and walk in the fresh air, but all we’re doing is building houses – we just need to hold back a bit.
“As a district we are being hit from all sides without any infrastructure.”
Cllr Barry Gwilt, Lichfield District Council
Lichfield District Council’s deputy leader, Cllr Iain Eadie, said some aspects of infrastructure, such as GP surgeries and schools, were within the remit of other authorities.
But he said the Local Plan was essential to ensuring infrastructure would be built.
Cllr Eadie told Cllr Gwilt:
“You made the point that as a district we’ve been hit for more houses – all areas are.
“We do want to see the infrastructure coming forward. We do need to see developers doing what they’re obliged to do.
“If we set out for a strategic site what developers need to do we have something to hold them account to.
“If we don’t have a Local Plan and people just put in applications we’re at the wrong end of the control mechanism and we may not see what we would like delivered for our residents.”
Cllr Iain Eadie, Lichfield District Council
But Cllr Gwilt said the council needed to be tougher with developers about when work on non-housing elements needed to be completed.
“Why does it take so long for developers to do the infrastructure? Why are they not forced to do this straight away? This is what a lot of residents are saying.
“Maybe as a council we need to be stricter? Maybe officers need to be on the ball more with the Section 106 money?
“A lot of places are asking why we are not getting the infrastructure work done.”
Cllr Barry Gwilt, Lichfield District Council
Cllr Eadie replied that the council was prepared to step in where agreed work did not take place.
“What’s written into the development scheme is milestones.
“If we make sure we have the Local Plan we can hold developers to account, if we don’t then the developers get to do what they want.
“Where there are obligations on developers, if we are required to take enforcement action to make it happen the council will do that.”
Cllr Iain Eadie, Lichfield District Council
