Councillors say they are concerned about the impact back garden housing developments in Burntwood.
The comments came at a meeting of Lichfield District Council’s planning committee last night (6th September).
Members were debating plans to allow a bungalow to be built in the back garden of 164 Cannock Road.
Cllr Diane Evans, Labour member for Boney Hay and Central ward, said the continued arrival of such developments risked having a “detrimental” effect on the town.
“We are hearing application after application for backland development in Burntwood.
“I am concerned about the amount that is taking place – the density is going to have a detrimental effect on neighbours.
“We really need to ensure that we are following the council’s policy on sustainable development.”
Cllr Diane Evans, Lichfield District Council
The proposal for the new bungalow was passed by a 7-2 vote, but fellow ward representative, Cllr Rob Birch, said he was worried about the long term impact of allowing homes to be built in back gardens across Burntwood.
“If we look at concerns around changing the character of an area, we have a number of houses with large back gardens built in the 1900s.
“It will change the character of an area if we allow back garden development – over a period of time it becomes accumulative and it is therefore against the council’s housing sustainability policies.
“Over time as the neighbours do it and the next neighbours do it, it changes the character of the area by definition.”
Cllr Rob Birch, Lichfield District Council
“People don’t garden as much as they used to”
But Cllr Jamie Checkland, Conservative representative for Leomansley, said the use of gardens for development needed to be seen in the current context of housing projects.
“In times gone by gardens were very spacious. People don’t garden as much as they used to.
“If we were designing a site and new development now, these gardens [at properties along Cannock Road] would all be bigger than any garden you get.
“The whole principle of backland development is actually making what is now considered to be an effective use of land.”
Cllr Jamie Checkland, Lichfield District Council
