BLOORS HOW TO OBJECT: A Guide for Burntwood Residents

Subject: Outline Planning Application 25/01485/OUTM – Land off Church Road / Coulter Lane

The Burntwood Action Group has heard your concerns clearly. To ensure your objection carries the most weight, we have identified 9 Key Themes based on the current 2026 planning laws. When you write your email or letter response to Lichfield District Council, consider these questions and themes:

💡 Strategic Advice:

Using this list will make the Council’s job much harder. Instead of reading “I don’t want houses,” they will have to read “The proposal violates NPPF Paragraph 115 regarding safe pedestrian access on Coulter Lane.”

1. The “Grey Belt” Reclassification

Bloor Homes is claiming this land is “Grey Belt” to make building easier. But for land to be “Grey Belt,” it must be “previously developed” or “limited in value.”

Do you think that 12 hectares of functional agricultural pasture—which currently supports Red-List breeding Lapwings—can truly be called “low-quality” or “Grey”?
Theme: If you believe this is high-performing Green Belt that should be protected, say so.

2. Education & “Paragraph 100”

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) Para 100 says it is “important that a sufficient choice of school places are available.”

Do you think that adding up to 250 homes to a town where Erasmus Darwin Academy and local primaries like Fulfen are already oversubscribed is sustainable?
Theme: Point out that the application offers no concrete solution for the lack of school capacity.

3. Transport & “Paragraph 115”

Planning rules say development must ensure “safe and suitable access for all users.”

Do you think that a 75% increase in traffic on Church Road—a road that already becomes a single-lane corridor during the school run—meets the safety test?
Do you think it is safe to displace traffic onto Coulter Lane, Farewell Lane & Woodhouses Road?

4. The “Five Year Housing Supply” Dispute

The developer argues that Lichfield District Council doesn’t have enough houses planned for the next five years (they claim 3.65 years). The Council’s position is that they are meeting targets elsewhere.

Theme: If you believe that housing needs should be met on Brownfield sites first (like those within the existing town footprint), tell the Council that Green Belt release is unnecessary.

5. The Five Purposes of Green Belt (NPPF Para 143)

Green Belt exists to prevent towns merging and to safeguard the countryside.

Do you think this development undermines the gap between Burntwood and Chorley? Does it feel like “urban sprawl” to you?
Theme: We know that other developers are waiting in the wings, North of the Bloors site, ready to make their move!

6. The Burntwood Neighbourhood Plan (BNP)

Burntwood has its own legal plan, adopted after a 76% “Yes” vote from residents.

Objective 2 & 11: Focus on protecting heritage and local identity.
Do you think a modern 250-home estate “protects the heritage” of the Christ Church heritage cluster and the Francis Barber legacy?
Theme: State that the proposal violates the Burntwood Neighbourhood Plan.

7. Infrastructure & “Paragraph 156”

Developers must show how they will deliver “necessary improvements to local infrastructure.”

Do you think a small park (SUDs pond) is a fair trade for the loss of 12 hectares of natural countryside? Does the proposal do anything to help our doctors’ surgeries or roads?

8. Topography & Privacy (BNP Policy 7)

In places the site sits 1.5 metres higher than the homes on Church Road.

Do you think that building houses on an elevated platform right next to existing cottages respects the “local character” and “privacy” of the area?

9. Cumulative Burden

This site is one of three recent proposed sites (including Rake Hill and Hammerwich) totalling 925 homes.

Theme: Ask the Council how the local infrastructure can cope with a cumulative surge of nearly 1,000 homes in our town.

How to Send Your Response:

Online: Use the Lichfield Planning Portal Comments Section (Ref: 25/01485/OUTM) https://planning.lichfielddc.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=T6L9YIJEL6R00
By Email: neighbour.responses@lichfielddc.gov.uk
Deadline: 20th January 2026

Tip: Please personalise your comments. If you are a parent at Fulfen, mention the school run. If you are a neighbour on Church Road, mention your privacy. Unique letters have much more impact than “copy-pasted” petitions.