Residents believe council proposals to improve their village will just mean homes being built on green fields.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is carrying out a consultation with Packmoor residents, asking them how they believe the area can be made better.

But many of the people who attended an engagement event at Packmoor Community Hall raised concerns over fields outside the village being developed, suspecting that this is the council's main aim. The city council owns 75 hectares of farmland to the east of Packmoor, and says some of this could be targeted for 'investment' as part of plans to address issues such as a lack of local amenities and housing choice.

Council leaders, though, have said that rumours that the authority is planning to build 2,000 social houses on the land are 'completely inaccurate', and insist they will listen to what residents tell them. Housing development was still the main concern raised by attendees at the consultation event.

Les and Stephanie Hughes, who live on the Wedgwood Farm estate, which borders the council-owned land, were among those worried about the council's plans.

Stephanie said: "They need to say how many homes they want to build, and where. The council have owned this land for 60 years. They tried to build houses there before in the late 1990s, but they couldn't get a developer interested in the land, so now they're having another go. They should just leave it as it is.

"They talk about the lack of shops here, but they should be looking at making Tunstall better. So many shops on the high street are empty."

Les added: "If they build homes on that land one of the main access points will be through our estate, which will mean more anti-social behaviour. If it goes ahead we're just going to move."

John Smith, treasurer of Packmoor Residents' Association, says that another potential access point to the land, at the end of Handley Street in Packmoor, would not be able to take more traffic. He said: "It's a bad junction as it is, and there's no way they could make it better because there's no space to expand it.

"There's already been three big housing estates built in the area, there's no need to build any more homes. Everyone I've spoken to feels the same way. Nobody wants to see more homes built on that land.

Council leaders say that Packmoor has developed in a 'piecemeal' way over the decades, and is now isolated from the rest of Stoke-on-Trent with poor transport links and a lack of local amenities. The council has hired consultants from Augarde to carry out a six-week community engagement, at the end of which a report will be drawn up, compiling residents' views.

Two more engagement events will take place at Packmoor Community Hall on Monday, January 13, and on Friday, January 17, both events running from 3.30pm to 6.30pm.

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