First, there was the council’s initial refusal; next came an unsuccessful appeal to the government’s Planning Inspectorate. Now, developers have lodged a fresh planning application in the hope of building a 31-bay EV charging hub and drive-thru restaurant on the A34 south of Stoke.
In November 2024 Stafford Borough Council rejected the proposals on the grounds they represented an “inappropriate development” that would “unacceptably harm the openness” of the green belt.
The authority said the requirement for a charging hub in the area had not been demonstrated, and that the project would amount to a “significant urban encroachment”, adding the developers had failed to explain “how the site can be safely accessed by sustainable travel”.
George Developments Limited subsequently lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate, but in June 2025 the central authority sided with the council, upholding its reasons for refusal.
Undeterred, George Developments has now submitted a new planning application to Stafford, changing the design of the proposed drive-thru restaurant to give it a traditional appearance rather than a modern one, and adding “further landscaping to screen the building from the roundabout and A34”. The application is pending a decision.
