The controversy around plans to build nine homes on the edge of a Staffordshire village has been further stoked with a new application.

Last September Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council granted outline planning permission for nine serviced plots for self-build homes in a field off Fairgreen Road in Baldwins Gate.

The application divided the local community, with 64 residents writing in support of the scheme, and another 64 submitting objections.

Now, applicant Hencie Homes has asked for the removal of a planning condition that requires the homes to be self-build or custom-build properties.

The new application has received objections from 30 residents and Whitmore Parish Council, who argue that the self-build element was a major reason why the scheme was granted permission in the first place.

But planning officers at the borough council have recommended the application for approval, saying that even without the self-build stipulation, the benefits of the scheme still outweigh any harms.

At the time of last September's original decision, the officer's report stated that the provision of self-build and custom housebuilding plots 'must be attributed significant weight'.

Whitmore Parish Council claims that the removal of the condition would be a 'fundmental change' to the approved scheme.

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The parish council states: "Permission was granted on the clear basis that the development would deliver self-build and custom housebuilding plots, meeting a specific housing need.

"Removing this requirement converts the scheme into a conventional speculative development, undermining both the council's housing mix policies and the integrity of the planning process.

"The applicant has provided no evidence that the self-build model is unviable, nor that demand is lacking, nor that genuine marketing has been attempted.

"Condition 11 was integral to the acceptability of the scheme, and its removal would strip away the very benefits – sustainability, diversity, and community cohesion – that justified approval.

"Allowing this change would set a damaging precedent, enabling applicants to secure permission on policy-compliant grounds only to abandon those commitments once consent is obtained."

In granting permission for the original scheme, the borough council acknowledged there would some localised visual harm and the loss of farmland, but said these would be outweighed by the provision of much-needed new housing.

Officers say that this would still be the case even without the homes being self-build.

The report to the planning committee states: "It is acknowledged that the removal of the condition would result in the loss of the benefit of a contribution to self-build/custom housing.

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However, the provision of new homes in a sustainable location, particularly in the context of a development plan that is not up to date in terms of housing need and where a suitable supply of housing cannot be demonstrated, is attributed substantial weight.

"Given the limited harms identified, It remains the case that the benefits of the proposal significantly and demonstrably outweigh any harms associated with the development."

Planning committee members will consider the new application when they meet on Tuesday, 28 April.

The new homes will still require a more detailed reserved matters application before construction can start.