The Secretary of State has announced the decision following the appeal launched by Tamworth Borough Council to the Planning Inspector over Arkall Farm. The result is the development has been granted outline planning permission for 1000 houses, however the infrastructure requirements have been changed from the “monitor and manage” approach to key set infrastructure milestones. Key outcomes of the Secretary of State’s decision: • No more than 200 homes can be occupied before improvements are made to the Fountain Junction at the junction of Ashby Road and Comberford Road • No more than 300 homes, and then 500, can be completed without a further assessment of the highway performance, and appropriate mitigation work must be carried out if needed before any more homes are built • Tamworth Borough Council should have nomination rights to 60% of the affordable homes contained within development (previously Tamworth had none). • Although Tamworth cannot legally be allocated Section 106 money to contribute towards the social infrastructure for amenities such as sporting facilities, the Secretary of State expects Lichfield District Council to work with Tamworth Borough Council to ensure these needs are met. The full decision (all 84 pages of it) can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/called-in-decision-land-north-of-ashby-road-tamworth-staffordshire-ref-3174379-7-june-2018 The response by Cllr Daniel Cook, Leader of Tamworth Borough Council can be found here - https://www.tamworthinformed.co.uk/secretary-of-state-decision-on-arkall-farm-development/ The development will have to come back before Lichfield District Council again as further planning matters will need to be resolved. Details will be circulated when it returns to Lichfield District Council Planning Committee. Finally ANOTHER application has been logged for 210 houses off Browns Lane with both Lichfield District Council and Tamworth Borough Council. The details of this application and how to object can be found here – Lichfield District Council - https://planning.lichfielddc.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=OU1UDGJELIH00 Tamworth Borough Council – http://planning.tamworth.gov.uk/northgate/planningexplorer/generalsearch.aspx and enter application number 0241/2018. Please ensure you have registered your views. It is important local residents raise the issues of traffic, infrastructure, community facilities, and school capacity in the area. This side of Tamworth remains very much under the focus of developers!