Controversial plans that could have seen more than 200 new homes built on farmland on the edge of Cheadle have been thrown out.

More than 180 people objected to the application for residential development on land to the east of Froghall Road – and there was applause from members of the public when district councillors voted to reject the proposals at a planning meeting on Thursday (March 28).

The application, put forward by Bloor Homes, sought outline consent for development and access onto the site, with further details including the number of homes due to come forward at a later date. It was recommended for approval by planning officers at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, but members of the planning committee went against this recommendation on Thursday.

An illustrative masterplan submitted to the council showed details for 215 homes on the site, as well as areas of open space, a pond, play areas, footpaths and cycle paths as well as tree and hedge planting. The description of the development was later changed however at planning officers' request to remove reference to the number of homes proposed, because of concerns about the capacity of the site to accommodate the number, a report to the planning committee said.

More than 180 people objected to the application for residential development on land to the east of Froghall Road (Google).

As well as 185 objections from residents, concerns were raised by Cheadle Town Council and Kingsley Parish Council. They said the town's existing road infrastructure was inadequate to cope with existing traffic and additional homes would make the situation even worse.

Kingsley Parish Council chairman James Aberley said on Thursday: "I find myself here again defending the green space of the Churnet Valley – in this incidence against the predatory advances of a housebuilder on a site that is completely inappropriate for what is being proposed. First of all, this outline application doesn't even confirm how many houses will be built here; the fact you don't know how many houses could be here means you could be approving 50, up to 250 or any number in between.

"This is in my ward and believe me when I say there is no sustainable form of public transport. There is zero public transport at weekends or after early evening – and only 18 months ago the public transport we have in the area was halved, and is now only two-hourly.

"To think that anyone would do anything other than use cars to access this site would be crazy. And with that comes the knock-on effect of the highways problems into Cheadle, up Froghall Road, which at multiple points every day is completely jammed as it is."

Concerns were also raised about how Cheadle town centre is over a mile away from the proposed development (Nub News).

Cheadle Town Councillor Stephen Ellis said: "This is a very significant urban extension – the application is literally a couple of fields away from a strategic housing site where we're already looking at 400 houses. The north-east ward has also seen 50 houses at Turner's Pasture, the redevelopment of the former JCB site on Queen Street, and all of a sudden every single road and plot of green space in Cheadle North East has been earmarked for development.

"Five radial roads converge with the junction of Leek Road and what we're saying is the solution to that is to put another 200 houses on the existing radial road network. I started as the planning portfolio holder in 2007 highlighting that the radial road network in Cheadle was inadequate for the houses we had got then – we're now nearly 20 years on and all we've seen is schemes for hundreds and hundreds more homes onto the existing roads.

"Leek Road, before it gets to the junction of Froghall Road, is pretty much queuing for all of the day every day and it's not unusual to see vehicles queuing at peak times way out beyond JCB and further along Leek Road. As someone who uses the bus service on a daily basis, I can tell you we don't normally go through Froghall Road, Kingsley or Kingsley Holt because the bus route doesn't go through there.

"This location is about a mile and a half from the town centre; if anyone thinks they are going to walk with two bags of shopping, or catch a bus that doesn't come, it is not going to happen. This is not a sustainable development."

But John Coxon, who spoke in support of the plans, said the council was unable to demonstrate it had a five-year housing land supply and there had been under-delivery in every year since the authority's latest Local Plan was adopted. "This has significant implications for the district, as delivering the level of housing set out in the Local Plan is essential to meeting housing needs including affordable housing, and to support the council's own economic growth strategy", he added.

Concerns were raised about traffic that would be caused on Leek Road and a lack of public transport (Google).

"Ultimately, sustainable sites on the edge of settlements are needed to address this shortfall. This is a sensitively designed, landscape-led development on a site that relates well to the existing urban area.

"It's a sustainable location directly next to existing allocation for housing and a proposed new primary school. The scheme can assist in the delivery of that school; the county council now has control of the land for the school and contributions have been secured.

"But even with all future allocations and committed development, a funding gap of approximately £2.6m exists. The approval of the scheme provides a clear funding pathway to the delivery of the school as a result of Bloor agreeing to plug the gap; without that funding there will remain a gap and no school in the north of the town.

"There are a number of other important local benefits including a range of highway measures to reduce queuing in the town centre, an extension of the local town bus service to Froghall Road and up to 71 affordable homes at a time when need in the area is very significant. The net need is between 224 and 432 affordable homes per annum and delivery has been nowhere near that level."

Committee member Bill Cawley said: "Why are we in the situation where we have a lack of affordable housing? We are in a situation where we are faced with a major problem in terms of lack of housing allocation to deal with pressing problems of homelessness and lack of affordable housing."

But fellow committee member Paul Roberts said: "I can't support the application. We haven't got infrastructure in Cheadle, we haven't got enough doctors.

"Fair enough they're going to give us £2.6m for a school but so did a previous applicant a while back – they were going to build a school then all of a sudden it disappeared and there was no school. What's the guarantee we're going to have a school?"

Committee chairman Peter Wilkinson said: "I don't think people will walk from that development into Cheadle. What parent is going to let their child walk into Cheadle and cross all the roads to Painsley or Cheadle High?

"We have got to look at the cumulative impact on highways coming from developments that have been approved but not been delivered. It doesn't just impact highways, you're talking about pollution because those vehicles are going to be queuing and that is going to impact on our community.

"As regards to houses for Cheadle, we've more than delivered what was in the spatial strategy. We shouldn't be allowing any more houses here – it's in open countryside and it's going to have an impact on the gateway to Cheadle."

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READ MORE: Seven detached houses could be built on vacant land in Stoke-on-Trent

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