A West Midlands council is considering plans for a designer outlet village which conservationists claim would endanger a nearby wildlife reserve — which Cannock Chase Council has already defended as “particularly important”.
The £115m Mill Green Designer Outlet Village in Staffordshire is being proposed by commercial and retail specialist Rioja Developments. It wants to build the retail complex on a greenfield site just yards from Mill Green and Hawks Green Valley Nature Reserve.
“With around 130 high-end retailers and restaurants, the development aims to become a leading tourist destination,” says the project’s website. “As well as a fantastic shopping experience, it promises a fun day out for all the family.”
If approved work on the site would start late this year with an opening already scheduled for 2018. It would, say the developers, generate as many as 800 jobs and “improve and enhance Mill Green’s adjoining nature reserve”.
It’s a claim which has attracted fierce criticism from local conservationists and politicians alike. “Building anything like this so close to a nationally recognised nature reserve borders on the insane,” said one of Hawks Green’s part time wardens.
Paul Woodhead, the Green Party’s parliamentary candidate for Cannock Chase, is equally opposed to the scheme. “This is an important, much-valued green space adjacent to the local nature reserve,” he explained. “Cannock Chase Council’s own website details the array of birds and small mammals whose habitats will be affected by this development.”
He added that if the development is approved, he would want to authority to limit any environmental and wildlife damage and to ensure the scheme “meets the needs of all the area’s residents and businesses”.
Since Rioja unveiled its plans last summer fears have already been raised over the village’s potential impact on nearby retailers. “One only has to look at places such as Dudley to understand how a major scheme like Merry Hill Shopping Centre can adversely affect nearby town centres,” said Woodhead.
“It’s also important to remember that the Midlands has the highest rate of vacant commercial premises in the country.”
