Forsbrook Parish Council

07/09/2026

Information received today regarding the A50

We’re writing to inform you that Balfour Beatty is carrying out resurfacing works on behalf of National Highways along the A50, between Doveridge and Blythe Bridge. These works are being carried out to ensure the A50 continues to meet the required maintenance standards as National Highways take full operation of the route.

Our work will take place from Tuesday 8 September to Friday 25 September 2026, on weeknights, from 8pm to 5am.

During this time, we’ll have two full westbound carriageway closures in place between Doveridge and Blythe Bridge as follows:

Doveridge Bypass closed from Ashford Interchange to the Marston Lane junction

07/09/2026

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2zkj09dy4o?fbclid=IwZnRzaAULm6FwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHsZjGRgWtNVDk4rSTH4fiIfBiTuBAHnCaqoW5PA-lxzXl9Z3fE99ih9co42p_aem_VmhWX-OWdH6DYQUtW9v6QA

Proposals to merge smaller councils to form larger authorities have been paused or withdrawn in a number of areas.

05/09/2026

The turnout from the Parish is disappointing.

Please come and express your concerns to this.

05/09/2026

04/09/2026

Don’t forget this happening this morning (Saturday 5th September). This plan review will have major implications for the green belt in Forsbrook and Blythe Bridge when it sits alongside the new National Planning Policy Framework. The Parish is about to be penalised with more houses because we have a train station. If you have a few spare minutes please drop into the library and register your thoughts.

26/08/2026

Email received from SMDC to Forsbrook Parish Council in response to our request for more information on the Local Plan Partial Review drop in sessions.

Staffordshire Moorlands Local Plan - Partial Review Consultation
Deadline for comments 23.59pm on Thursday 8th October 2026.
We are writing to you as you have responded to previous local plan consultations and/or have asked to be kept informed about consultations on the Staffordshire Moorlands Local Plan.
The Council is publishing a proposed partial review of selected policies from the 2020 Local Plan for a period of consultation. As the current Local Plan is now over 5-years old, elements of it are considered to be out-of-date and carry less weight in guiding development and determining planning applications across the district.
The key purpose of the review is to address Government's increased housing requirement and update the strategic distribution of development across the district to direct the development uplift to where it will better support economic growth aspirations and be most likely to be delivered. This follows:

1. Poor delivery rates recorded across certain strategic locations and allocations in the adopted Local Plan.
2. The 55% increase in the housing requirement under Government's new Standard Method requirement, which equates to an additional 177 dwellings per annum or 3,000+ dwellings over the plan period.
The partial review covers changes to the following strategic policies:
• SS 2 Settlement Hierarchy
• SS 3 Future Provision and Distribution of Development, and
• SS 4 Strategic Housing and Employment Land Supply
A new strategic policy, (SS 8a - A50 Growth Corridor) is proposed to be added to the plan. The precise extent of the growth corridor will be determined in a future Local Plan review, but will be located in the Blythe Bridge / Forsbrook area.
Other changes in this partial review are:
• Two new policies: C2a Outdoor and Indoor Sports Facilities and C2b Open Space replacing the previous combined policy, Policy C2 (Sport, Recreation and Open Space).
• Deletion of site-specific policies DSL 1 - Land at Horsecroft Farm, Leek and DSR 3 - Land off Ash Bank Road, Werrington, as the development they were intended to guide is no longer required or has been successfully delivered.
Note that no specific site allocations are included in this consultation. They will be covered in a future Local Plan Review. The rest of the Staffordshire Moorlands Local Plan remains the same so comments are not being invited on any other sites or policies, just the ones listed above and contained within the consultation document.
To find out more information about the consultation, please go to:
Website: www.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk/local-plan-partial-review
Online portal: https://staffsmoorlands-consult.objective.co.uk/kse/
Paper copies of the consultation documents available at: Moorlands House Leek, Biddulph Town Hall, Cheadle Councils' Connect and all libraries in the district during opening hours.
Public Drop-in Sessions
• Leek - Wed 2 September 2026, 4-7pm Churnet Room, Moorlands House, Leek, ST13 6HQ
• Cheadle - Tue 8 September 2026, 4-7pm Oakley Room, Guild Hall, Tape Street, Cheadle ST10 1BG
• Biddulph - Fri 11 September 2026, 4-7pm Biddulph Town Hall, High Street, Biddulph ST8 6AR and
• Blythe Bridge - Sat 5 September 2026, 10am-1pm Blythe Bridge Library, Uttoxeter Road, Blythe Bridge ST11 9JR
How to Make Comments
• Online (the preferred method): https://staffsmoorlands-consult.objective.co.uk/kse/
• Email: complete a response form (available online) and email it to [email protected]; or
• Post: complete a paper response form (available from Council Offices and libraries) and send it to Planning Policy, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, PO Box 136, Buxton, SK17 1AQ.
Following this consultation, the Council will consider all representations received and will make any necessary amendments before consulting on a revised draft later in the autumn.
If you no longer wish to be kept informed about planning policy documents including the Local Plan please email [email protected] with your name, email and/or address and we will amend our consultation database.
Yours faithfully
Planning Policy Team
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council

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25/08/2026

The rough sleepers at the train station have been flagged to the appropriate agency.

22/08/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Honpz6vMC/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A50 Closure – Tean & Checkley Traffic Update

I’ve received a number of messages from residents in Tean and Checkley who are understandably frustrated by the additional traffic coming through the villages while maintenance work takes place on the A50.

A quick update:

The works on High Street were emergency works relating to a cable fault ( Telecoms Utility which we have no control over ). These have now been completed and the temporary traffic signals removed.

The works on Uttoxeter Road are being monitored during peak periods. During the daytime, the impact is currently reported as relatively low.

More importantly, our Traffic & Network Management team has contacted National Highways to establish whether an application was made to use Staffordshire’s road network as the A50 diversion route. Our records currently do not appear to show that permission was given, and we are awaiting National Highways’ response.

We are working behind the scenes to address this as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this is an issue that has landed with Staffordshire County Council rather than something we initiated or had control over from the outset.

I completely understand residents’ frustration and apologise for the disruption you are experiencing.

Please be assured: we are not ignoring the problem we are actively working to get answers and address it.

I’ll provide a further update when we hear back from National Highways.

Thank you for your patience.