National Highways says the 300 extra Arkall Farm homes near Tamworth should not be approved for three months. The county's flood team also wants more detail.
National Highways has told Lichfield District Council not to approve the plan for 300 more homes at Arkall Farm for three months. The estate is on the north-east edge of Tamworth, about seven miles east of Lichfield city.
Its formal response, dated 6 November, says it needs more traffic figures first. Staffordshire County Council’s flood team has also recommended that permission is not granted until the drainage plans are updated. Both responses are now on the planning register for 26/01227/OUTMEI.
Neither is a final objection. Both bodies list what the developer needs to supply, and the application can go ahead once they are satisfied.
What National Highways wants
Barwood Strategic Land wants 1,300 homes at Arkall Farm, not the 1,000 approved in 2018, as we reported in October. National Highways looks after the A5 and the M42. It says the nearest point where the estate’s traffic meets its roads is on the A5, 3.5km south of the site.
The agency accepted most of the developer’s transport assessment. It said the trip rates, taken from 2021 surveys at the nearby Anker Valley estate, were robust. But it asked for:
- traffic flow diagrams for the morning (8am to 9am) and evening (5pm to 6pm) peaks, including the A5 junction at Ventura Park
- a scenario showing only the traffic from the 300 extra homes, set against the 1,000 already approved
- evidence before it accepts the developer’s assumption that 10% of car trips will switch to other ways of travelling
“It is recommended that the application should not be approved for a period of three months from the date of this response,” the National Highways response says. That runs to early February. The council’s own target date for a decision is 2 February 2027.
The response also points out two inconsistencies in the developer’s figures. One part of the transport assessment says 315 homes were occupied in May 2026, while National Highways understands that 245 have been built. Another gives phases 3 and 4 a total of 995 homes, not the 985 applied for.
Drainage: “insufficient information”
The county council is the lead local flood authority. Its response of 5 November says “insufficient information has been submitted to demonstrate that an acceptable drainage strategy is proposed”.
The plans send all surface water north into two small watercourses on the site’s northern edge. Around 30,000 cubic metres of storage would hold it back, in four attenuation basins. The flood team wants the strategy updated to meet the national standards for sustainable drainage. That includes reusing rainwater from roofs, with water butts or rain gardens, and catching run-off from private driveways and paths. Its covering email called these “simple amendments”.
£1.44m for special needs school places
The county’s education team has asked for a contribution of £1,438,924.64 towards places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Its response says existing SEND provision is “at, or close to, capacity”. The money would be paid in three stages as the homes are built.
The sum is worked out on the full 985 homes in the application:
| Part | Pupils expected | Cost per place | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary SEND | 4.8265 | £80,692 | £389,459.94 |
| Secondary SEND | 9.456 | £110,984 | £1,049,464.70 |
| Total | £1,438,924.64 |
The figures come from the county’s education response of 4 November. It says a separate response on ordinary primary and secondary places will follow. That one matters most locally, because the extra homes would partly go on land the 2018 permission kept for a primary school.
The parish council objects
Wigginton and Hopwas Parish Council has formally objected. It accepts that 1,000 homes already have permission. But it says the developer has not shown that roads, schools, health services and open space planned for 1,000 homes can cope with 1,300.
Its objection, filed on 5 November, lists its concerns:
- junction capacity, congestion and road safety
- school places, given the loss of part of the school site
- pressure on health services and community buildings
- whether there is enough open space for a larger population
“Until robust and comprehensive evidence is provided … the application should be refused,” the parish council wrote.
Not every response is critical. Natural England and the Environment Agency both say they have no objection. Five public comments on the register are marked as objections and one as neutral.
What it means for you
- You can still comment. The council’s latest consultation expiry date for the application is now 19 November, later than the 14 November first given. Comments go through the planning register page.
- No decision is close. With National Highways asking for three months, a decision before February looks unlikely. No committee date has been set.
- Building carries on either way. The homes already approved in 2018 can still be built whatever happens to this application.
Sources
- Lichfield District Council planning register: 26/01227/OUTMEI: National Highways formal recommendation NH/26/18433 (6 November 2026); Staffordshire County Council lead local flood authority response (5 November 2026); Staffordshire County Council education commissioning SEND response (4 November 2026); Wigginton and Hopwas Parish Council objection (5 November 2026); Natural England response 562313 (5 November 2026); Environment Agency response; public comments; key dates tab.
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