A controversial masterplan could see up to 1,224 homes built on fields outside a Stoke-on-Trent village.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council's draft masterplan for Packmoor sets out how council-owned farmland could be developed with hundreds of homes and a new road between Turnhurst Road and Outclough Road.

The document, produced by consultants from Tetra Tech, sets out five different options for the land, including 'doing nothing'.

Under each the other four options, varying amounts of land would be developed, delivering as few as 760 or as many as 1,224 homes, with a quarter of them classed as affordable.

According to the masterplan, as well as providing much-needed new housing, the development will result in improved highways and connectivity, better local services and more accessible green spaces.

But the Labour-run council's proposals for new housing at Packmoor, first announced in 2024, have always been controversial, with most local people opposing development due to the loss of green space and the impact on local infrastructure.

More than 1,300 people signed a petition calling on the council to abandon the masterplan, and campaigners accused the council of ignoring the responses to a previous public engagement.

Cabinet members will be asked to approve the draft document for consultation when they meet next week.

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Once the final version of the masterplan is approved, any development on the land will require planning permission before any work can take place.

The masterplan states: "This document aims to deliver positive change for Packmoor – helping to broaden the offer, stabilising and strengthening local provision, new publicly accessible green spaces with improved green and blue connections, introducing new high-quality and affordable housing, providing a more attractive place to live for new and existing residents.

"Each of the options considered is influenced by the unique character of Packmoor, as expressed by the local community in the 2024/25 engagement exercise, together with consideration of the concerns and issues raised by residents."

The council-owned land at Packmoor includes football pitches leased to Kidsgrove Athletic FC and 'ridge and furrow' plough land. The latter dates back to medieval times and could be protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Three options included in the masterplan would see either of these pieces of land, or both of them, excluded from development – reducing the number of homes that could be delivered. A fourth option would see all 36 hectares developed.

The masterplan promises a 'people-first approach' that will protect Packmoor's identity through 'landscape buffers' maintaining separation with neighbouring communities.

It says that the new homes and facilities will be embedded within a 'strong green framework', with active travel routes promoting walking and cycling

Councillor Dave Mountford, who represents Great Chell and Packmoor, defected from Labour to the Potteries Party in protest at the council's approach to Packmoor. He believes the council needs to listen to residents in the area.

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Cllr Mountford said: "Doing nothing is one of the options in the masterplan, and so that is still on the table. For 99.9 per cent of the residents I've spoken, that would be their preferred option.

"If there is to be development, the infrastructure has to be there from the get-go, before new homes are built. It can't just be an afterthought. That's my big concern and more importantly it's the concern of local residents.

"The masterplan acknowledges that the junctions around the site are already over capacity."

The land at Packmoor has been earmarked for up to 800 homes in the council's draft local plan.

Responses to the draft local plan consultation were mostly opposed to development at Packmoor.