Plans to create a new access road and car park at an historic Staffordshire house are set to be blocked.

The owners of the Grade II* listed Biddulph Old Hall say the proposed works will support visitor access to the 17th century building, generating income to fund the maintenance of an important heritage asset.

Existing access to Biddulph Old Hall is via a track off Overton Road, shared with a neighbouring farm, which the owners say is 'not fit for purpose'.

The site currently receives around 2,000 visitors a year. The proposal would see the creation of a new access road across 600 metres of farmland between Biddulph Old Hall and the A527 Congleton Road to the west, while a field would would be turned into parking for up to 120 vehicles.

But planning officers at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council say the applicants have failed to demonstrate that the benefits of the scheme would outweigh the harm caused to the setting of heritage assets and the Green Belt.

They have recommended the application for refusal, with planning committee members due to make a decision when they meet on Thursday.

According to the application, the current owners of Biddulph Old Hall have spent the last 18 years restoring the building, and stabilising the ruins of the neighbouring Elizabethan mansion, a scheduled ancient monument.

They say that the ability to open up the hall for open days, functions and group tours is 'critical' to the ongoing restoration work, but this activity is restricted by the current access and parking arrangements.

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The application states: "Requests from Biddulph Town Council for events and even Civil War re-enactments have to be refused at the moment, but with a new access and parking all of these events could be catered for.

"We believe that this would allow for the local area and community to build on the success of Biddulph Grange gardens and offer an additional much needed resource to the area.

"For this reason we believe the proposal would enhance the reputation and profile of Biddulph, and supports the very special circumstances required for development in the Green Belt."

The application has received eight individual objections from residents, alone with Poolfold Residents' Group, which represents 38 members.

Objectors say the proposed track would be an 'eyesore' visible from Congleton Road and the other side of the Biddulph Valley, and raise concerns over the impact on what is currently a 'clean and peaceful area'.

They also question the need for an entirely new access to Biddulph Old Road, and point out that the building does not have planning permission for commercial use.

But the hall's owners believe that the use of the building as a visitor attraction is limited to a scale that does not result in a material change of use'.

The application has also received 42 representations from supporters, who say the plans will improve access, increase tourism and boost local businesses. Historic England has not objected on heritage grounds, but says that harm caused to heritage assets would need 'clear and convincing justification'.

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Planning officers say that any proposal to 'increase or intensify' visitor activity would require the relevant planning permissions.

The report to committee states: "If the proposed track and access were to be provided on the basis that the use is only occasional and does not require planning permission…then the identified harms and impacts would be lasting but the benefits, that might be identified to justify that harm, would be very limited.

"On the other hand, if a planning permission were granted for the track and access on an understanding that the property can open commercially as an attraction without restraint, then the council has not had opportunity and would not have properly considered the full impacts of that use."

Officers say the scheme would result in 'less than substantial harm' to the setting of a listed building and scheduled monument, and would amount to inappropriate development in the Green Belt.