The 15.08 ha is located on the eastern edge of Fradley, immediately east of Church Lane and on the northern side of Fradley lane, bounded to the east by the A38.
The site is currently predominantly in arable agricultural use and as such it performs poorly in terms of biodiversity. It is currently not accessible to the community apart from existing public right of way footpaths that cross the site. These will be retained and enhanced as part of the landscaped open space proposals for the site.
The site is located outside the greenbelt and occupies a highly sustainable location on the edge of the settlement boundary of Fradley. The Lichfield District Council Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) has assessed the site as being “Suitable”, “Available” and “Achievable” for residential development. As such the site is being promoted by Bloor Homes through the new Lichfield Local Plan to contribute to addressing housing need in the district.
A Local Plan is a document that sets out the vision for future development in a local authority area. Government requires that all local authorities have an up-to-date local plan in place and review it at least every five years.
Lichfield District Council’s existing Local Plan was adopted in 2015 and is now considered significantly out of date. The Council is now carrying out a review of the Local Plan to produce a new plan and the site is being promoted for allocation in the review to contribute to housing need.
The Local Plan review will need to demonstrate that the district’s housing needs are being met and proposals by the Government to reform the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) will see the number of homes that need to be delivered in the District increase significantly.
With the existing Local Plan now significantly out of date and housing targets increasing following changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) announced by the Government, Bloor Homes submitted an outline planning application in late 2024 while continuing to promote the site through the new Local Plan. The outline planning application was approved by Lichfield District Council in November 2025. This will enable the early delivery of much-needed new homes at a site that has been acknowledged by the District Council as being suitable for this purpose, protecting sites that have been deemed less suitable in light of anticipated shortfalls in housing delivery numbers in the district under the new National Planning Policy Framework.
Local Plans are the key documents through which local planning authorities set out a vision and framework for the future development of the area, engaging with their communities in doing so. Local Plans address needs and opportunities in relation to housing, the local economy, community facilities and infrastructure. The Local Plan provides a degree of certainty for communities, businesses and investors, and a framework for guiding decisions on individual planning applications.
Local planning authorities, such as Lichfield District Council, have a statutory responsibility to maintain an up-to-date Local Plan, and national policy indicates that Local Plans should be regularly reviewed, with the expectation this is done at least every five years.
Lichfield District Council’s existing Local Plan was adopted in 2015 and is now considered significantly out of date. The Council is now carrying out a review of the Local Plan to produce a new plan and the site is being promoted for allocation in the review to contribute to housing need.
The Local Plan review will need to demonstrate that the district’s housing needs are being met and changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) recently announced by the Government will see the number of homes that need to be delivered in the District increase significantly.
Following the granting of outline planning permission in 2025 which established the principles of development, Bloor Homes has now submitted detailed plans (Reserved Matters) for the site, which will provide:
- A landscape-led development providing 211 high-quality homes in a range of styles and tenures to meet local housing need, with circa 50% of the site area provided as open space, including extensive landscaped public open space.
- The number of homes proposed was reduced by 50 during the outline planning process following public consultation in late 2024 and ongoing technical site analysis, and the final number is also 19 lower than that established in the outline planning permission.
- 59 of the homes will be affordable homes, providing opportunities for key workers and people on low incomes to secure a home of their own in Fradley.
- Retention of the majority of existing trees and hedgerows, enhanced by additional planting.
- Extensive green public open space and habitat creation, boosting the biodiversity value of the site to exceed both national and local level Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements.
- Play facilities for young people in the new neighbourhood and the wider community for which there is an identified need in Fradley.
- A community building that could fulfil a range of uses.
- A network of walking and cycling routes through extensive green public open space on land that has previously been largely inaccessible to the public. Existing public rights of way will also be retained and enhanced to improve accessibility for the whole community.
- A package of highways safety improvements, including a new roundabout and extension of the 30mph speed limit on Fradley Lane, widening of Fradley Lane on the approach to the junction with Church Lane, junction improvements where Fradley Lane meets Church Lane, provision of a bus stop on Church Lane, extensive walking and cycling infrastructure provision, and land safeguarded for any potential future improvements to the A38 slip road.
- A sustainable development delivering energy efficient homes that will be well insulated and include the use of renewable technologies such as PV cells and air source heat pumps, in addition to EV charging infrastructure.
- Significant investment into local infrastructure such as healthcare and education, informed by consultation with statutory bodies such as the NHS and local education authority and secured via legal agreement.
We are proposing 211 high-quality new homes that will be sustainably designed to achieve low carbon living. This will include a range of house types, with 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroomed homes proposed.
An outline planning application sets out broad principles of development. Details such as layout and precise type of new homes would be established in subsequent Reserved Matters planning applications, which will be subject to further consultation with the community.
59 of the new homes will be affordable homes, providing an opportunity for key workers and people on low incomes to secure a home in Fradley. These will be provided in a mix of homes for social rent and shared ownership homes.
This is a matter for the Local Authority. We are happy to discuss with the Local Authority the potential to apply Local Occupancy Criteria to affordable homes to ensure that people with local connections are prioritised.
All homes will be built in accordance with the latest version of the Building Regulations or the Future Homes Standards in place when construction commences, which both set ambitious construction and energy efficiency standards.
You can find out more about the approach that Bloor takes towards sustainability here: www.bloorhomes.com/buying-guide/sustainability
The vast majority of existing landscape features such as hedgerows and trees will be retained. This, alongside the creation and management of new landscape planting, trees and SuDS features will provide new habitats and enhance the quality of the existing habitats - improving the biodiversity value of the site.
We are conscious of the ever-increasing importance of that ensuring development is sustainable, protecting and enhancing natural habitats and green infrastructure as much as possible whilst delivering much needed homes for people and families.
The proposals for Fradley will see around 50% of the total site area dedicated to providing extensive areas of open space, including landscaped public open space, habitat areas and play areas. The proposals will be informed by an ecological survey and will seek to demonstrate Biodiversity Net Gain in excess of local and national requirements.
Vehicular access to the proposed development will primarily be taken from a new roundabout created on Fradley Lane to the southwest of the site. The new roundabout junction will create a new gateway to the village approaching from the A38 to the southeast and will help to control traffic speeds on Fradley Lane. A speed limit change is proposed to the south of the proposed roundabout so that the posted speed limit is 30mph along the site frontage on Fradley Lane.
The narrow stretch of Fradley Lane between the proposed site access and the junction with Fradley Lane will be widened to address local concerns.
The proposals will include the safeguarding of a parcel of land adjacent to the A38 which will provide the opportunity for the local highways authority and national highways to provide improvements to the junction with the A38 where the sliproad is currently suboptimal.
Access for pedestrians and cyclists would be provided at a number of points in addition to the primary vehicular access. A shared footway/cycleway will be provided along Fradley Lane to connect to the Church Lane/Fradley Lane junction. Uncontrolled crossings would be provided on Fradley Lane and Church Lane to enable connectivity to the main desire lines to the west of the site. A bus stop will also be provided on Church Lane which would enable local bus services to stop in close proximity to the site, and a bus turning loop will be provided within the development to enable the bus route to be extended into the development.
The development itself will incorporate a network of walking and cycling routes set amongst extensive landscaped open space.
The new roundabout junction will create a new gateway to the village approaching from the A38 to the southeast and will help to control traffic speeds on Fradley Lane, a concern cited in recent Parish Council minutes. A speed limit change is proposed to the south of the proposed roundabout so that the posted speed limit is 30mph along the site frontage on Fradley Lane.
The narrow stretch of Fradley Lane between the proposed site access and the junction with Church Lane will be widened to address local concerns.
The proposals include the safeguarding of a parcel of land adjacent to the A38 which will provide the opportunity for the local highways authority and national highways to provide improvements to the junction with the A38 where the sliproad is currently suboptimal.
A new bus stop will be provided on Church Lane, and a bus turning loop will be provided within the development to enable the bus route to be extended into the development, enabling residents at the new neighbourhood to access existing bus services.
The site is currently largely comprised of improved agricultural land, which is of relatively low value in terms of biodiversity. The retention of existing trees and hedgerows, along with the planting of hundreds of new trees and other plants and the use of SuDS features to create new wetland features, will create new habitats. This will significantly boost the biodiversity value of the site, delivering Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) in excess of both national and local level requirements. This means that the development will deliver at least 10% BNG above the baseline unit value, and at least 20% above the biodiversity unit value of any habitats lost, through the retention and enhancement of existing habitats.
Bloor Homes is signed up to the Homes for Nature programme which will see the installation of swift nesting boxes in every new home and hedgehog highways between gardens.
The site is located within Flood Zone 1 of the Environment Agency Flood Map, and as such has no flood risk associated with it. Our surface water drainage strategy for the development has the potential to provide an improvement over the current situation for the surrounding area, as well as delivering biodiversity enhancements through the creation of wetland habitats.
Through our process of pre-application consultation we were made aware of existing issues with surface water flooding affecting properties in Church Lane.
As a gesture to the local community who have experienced issues along Church Lane, Bloor Homes have provided funding for a survey and any required maintenance to the existing drainage systems along Church Lane.
Severn Trent Water (STW) reviewed the outline planning application and confirmed no objection to the proposal, subject to a planning condition requiring the Council’s and STW’s approval of a detailed drainage plan for foul and surface water prior to any development commencing on site. The scheme will be restricted to a greenfield run off rate as per the request of the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA). This means that all surface water will be mitigated entirely within the site and no additional water would enter the existing drainage system, which may provide betterment over the existing situation.
Any planning consents will include a condition for the agreement of a Construction Management Plan with the Local Authority to ensure that all construction is well managed and minimises its impact on the surrounding area.
The Reserved Matters planning application was submitted later in April 2026. It could be estimated that this would be determined by late 2026, enabling work to potentially start early in 2027. However, this is an estimate and precise timescales are very much dependent on the planning system.
A key consideration with a planning proposal such as this is to ensure that local services receive the investment they need to accommodate housing growth in the local area. The development will generate significant investment into local infrastructure such as healthcare and education, and this has been informed by consultation carried out by Lichfield District Council with statutory bodies such as the NHS and local education authority and secured via a Section 106 legal agreement between Bloor Homes and the Council.
The Section 106 financial contributions agreed between Bloor Homes and the Council total circa £3.7 million to support local infrastructure, including:
- Circa £3.2 million to expand local education provision
- £250,000 to support local bus services
- Circa £200,000 to expand local healthcare provision at Alrewas or nearby
- Circa £80,000 to Cannock Chase SAC
- £5,000 to support school transport
- Circa £16,000 contribution to Traffic Regulation Order (TRO)
- £6,000 funding for Travel Plan CIL
In addition to this direct investment into schools, healthcare, highways and other local services, the development will also provide Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payments estimated to be in the region of £1.2 million.
The planning application is available to view on Lichfield District Council’s Planning Portal here, quoting reference 26/00442/REMM.
Bloor Homes created a dedicated website – www.bloorhomesfradley.com - in the Autumn of 2024 to provide an opportunity for members of the community to view our emerging plans and provide feedback on your priorities for new homes, open spaces and facilities in Fradley to help shape a development that meets the needs of the local community now and in the future.
Now that we have submitted our Reserved Matters planning application in April 2026, there is a further opportunity to provide input and comment either directly to us via our contact form, or through the Council’s statutory consultation on the submitted plans which can be accessed on the planning portal.