Residents not happy about polytunnels as fruit farm plan set for approval
Plans for a fruit farm on a nature reserve look set to be given the go ahead, despite protests from residents saying it would be a blot on the landscape.
Aqualate Mere, which is just outside of Newport, has been recommended for approval by planning officers to become a soft fruit farm when the application goes before planners at Stafford Borough Council next week.
If the plans are approved it would see rows of white polytunnels installed on the site for the soft fruit production.
However, residents in nearby villages Outwoods and Moreton have started an action group known as SNAP (Say No To Polytunnels), to protest against the plans at Aqualate Mere, which is the largest area of open water in the West Midlands.
The group say that if the plan is given the go-ahead it could be a danger to motorists using the A518 due to the mud on the road.
They also said it will cause a huge amount of traffic build up as people may get stuck behind slow moving tractors going to and from the site.
Trevor Stevenson, spokesman for the action group, said: "Aqualate Mere is the largest natural lake in the West Midlands and it is just a stone's throw away.
"This is a wildlife reserve of international importance and we have a duty to safeguard this place for future generations. Any risk of damage, is a risk we should not take."
SNAP has also raised concerns about being disturbed when fruit production begins, although Mark Alfod, planning officer for the borough council said in his report that would not be the case.
Bill Cash, MP for Stone, said he objects to the plans as he agrees with his constituents views.
He said in the report: "I object in line with the views of my constituents, as a wide ranging assessment is needed in terms of the economic benefits and profits to the rural economy.
"It would be an extreme visual blight on the countryside, alongside estate parkland of the historic Aqualate and Ramsar site.
"The landscape should be conserved as part of any sustainable development, and development should be restrained in size."
A decision on the plans will be decided at a special planning committee on Monday at 12noon at Stafford Borough Council's Civic Centre following a site visit in the morning.
