Second council backs revised power station plans

A second council has approved revised plans to create up to 2,300 homes and new jobs on the site of a former power station in Staffordshire.Lichfield District Council’s planning committee originally voted through the application for the old Rugeley Power Station site in January.However since then the application has been updated with the provision of an all through school, instead of a two-form entry school.The council voted to approve the plan again at a virtual meeting on Monday 27 July.Cannock Chase District Council’s committee also approved the scheme again at a virtual meeting on Wednesday 22 July.The development will also include 12.3 acres of employment space as well as three acres set aside for mixed-use developments.The application for the 343-acre site will also see the demolition of an office building and environmental centre.Applicant Engie is a low-carbon energy services and regeneration business which owned and operated the power station when it closed in 2016.Demolition of much of the site’s infrastructure, excluding the substations, is currently being undertaken and is due to be completed by 2021.The homes would be constructed on phases over a number of years up to 2040, with the entire development completed over the same period.