Staffordshire Moorlands Local Plan – Partial Review Consultation

As the current Local Plan is now over 5-years old, elements of it are considered to be out-of-date and carry less weight in guiding development and determining planning applications across the district.

The key purpose of the review is to address Government’s increased housing requirement and update the strategic distribution of development across the district to direct the development uplift to where it will better support economic growth aspirations and be most likely to be delivered. This follows:

1. Poor delivery rates recorded across certain strategic locations and allocations in the adopted Local Plan.
2. The 55% increase in the housing requirement under Government’s new Standard Method requirement, which equates to an additional 177 dwellings per annum or 3,000+ dwellings over the plan period.

The partial review covers changes to the following strategic policies:

• SS 2 Settlement Hierarchy
• SS 3 Future Provision and Distribution of Development, and
• SS 4 Strategic Housing and Employment Land Supply

A new strategic policy, (SS 8a – A50 Growth Corridor) is proposed to be added to the plan. The precise extent of the growth corridor will be determined in a future Local Plan review, but will be located in the Blythe Bridge / Forsbrook area.

Other changes in this partial review are:

• Two new policies: C2a Outdoor and Indoor Sports Facilities and C2b Open Space replacing the previous combined policy, Policy C2 (Sport, Recreation and Open Space).
• Deletion of site-specific policies DSL 1 – Land at Horsecroft Farm, Leek and DSR 3 – Land off Ash Bank Road, Werrington, as the development they were intended to guide is no longer required or has been successfully delivered.

Note that no specific site allocations are included in this consultation. They will be covered in a future Local Plan Review. The rest of the Staffordshire Moorlands Local Plan remains the same so comments are not being invited on any other sites or policies, just the ones listed above and contained within the consultation document.

To find out more information about the consultation, please go to:

Website: www.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk/local-plan-partial-review

Online portal: https://staffsmoorlands-consult.objective.co.uk/kse/

Paper copies of the consultation documents available at: Moorlands House Leek, Biddulph Town Hall, Cheadle Councils’ Connect and all libraries in the district during opening hours.

Public Drop-in Sessions

• Leek – Wed 2 September 2026, 4-7pm Churnet Room, Moorlands House, Leek, ST13 6HQ
• Cheadle – Tue 8 September 2026, 4-7pm Oakley Room, Guild Hall, Tape Street, Cheadle ST10 1BG
• Biddulph – Fri 11 September 2026, 4-7pm Biddulph Town Hall, High Street, Biddulph ST8 6AR and
• Blythe Bridge – Sat 5 September 2026, 10am-1pm Blythe Bridge Library, Uttoxeter Road, Blythe Bridge ST11 9JR

How to Make Comments

• Online (the preferred method): https://staffsmoorlands-consult.objective.co.uk/kse/
• Email: complete a response form (available online) and email it to localplan@staffsmoorlands.gov.uk; or
• Post: complete a paper response form (available from Council Offices and libraries) and send it to Planning Policy, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, PO Box 136, Buxton, SK17 1AQ.

Following this consultation, the Council will consider all representations received and will make any necessary amendments before consulting on a revised draft later in the autumn.