More homes are set to be built in the 'grey belt' outside a Staffordshire village.

Last November councillors granted 'permission in principle' for a development of six to nine homes on farmland south of Pepper Street, near Silverdale.

Newcastle Borough Council has now approved a permission in principle application for five to nine homes on the opposite side of Pepper Street.

Both sites lie within the North Staffordshire Green Belt, but officers say they meet the definition of grey belt, meaning they have less protection under planning rules.

The concept of grey belt was introduced in a recent overhaul of national planning policy.

It is defined as land within the Green Belt which has been previously developed or which 'does not strongly contribute' to purposes such as preventing urban sprawl or stopping towns merging into each other.

The latest application, from Trentdale Investments Limited, notes the November decision and says that the new proposal would similarly comprise 'an appropriate form of development in the Green Belt'.

Keele Parish Council objected to the application, and raised concerns about the Green Belt being gradually eroded by a succession of small housing development.

A letter from the parish council states: "We acknowledge that each planning application must be judged on its own merits.

"However, in the context of the current abundance of applications for fewer than 10 houses on small Green Belt plots, this requirement leaves the planning process open to abuse.

"One application can follow another, thereby avoiding the Golden Rules intended to guide grey belt development and resulting in a damaging, incremental erosion of the Green Belt.

"This outcome was clearly not intended in the drafting of the National Planning Policy Framework."

But planning officers at the borough council agreed with Trentdale Investments' assessment that the site qualifies as grey belt.

The officers' delegated decision report also states that there is a 'demonstrable need for the development' due to the council's lack of a five year housing land supply, and that the site is in a sustainable location.

Now that planning in permission has been granted for the Pepper Street development, a further technical details application will need to be submitted and approved before the development can go ahead.