Six planning applications that could have resulted in 54 homes being built in the Green Belt have been withdrawn.

Trentdale Investments submitted the applications to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, with each one seeking permission in principle for one to nine homes on land north of Pepper Street, Keele.

But all six applications have now been withdrawn. Trentdale has already secured permission in principle for six to nine homes on an adjacent site, and argued that the land qualifies as 'grey belt', meaning development can be appropraite.

In its latest applications, Trentdale said the proposals 'would complete the developable area of the whole field'.

Permission in principle is an alternative way of gaining consent for small housing developments of up to nine homes.

Once permission in principle has been secured, a technical details application then has to be submitted and approved.

Keele Parish Council claimed that the Pepper Street scheme involved 'artificial subdivision' to ensure each individual proposal fell below the threshold of major development.

he parish council called on planners to carry out a cumulative assessment of the proposals, raising concerns that subdividing the land in this way 'risks undermining the policy framework governing development within the Green Belt/Grey Belt'.

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