Plans for a block of four new stables have been approved on an area of land adjacent to Knypersley Sports Club.

The plans, which were submitted by a Miss Shelley Ross, were approved recently by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and related to an area of land off Harlech Drive in Biddulph.

However, the plans received some opposition locally with letters of objection being submitted to the council by nine nearby households.

A report by the district council's planning officers explained that the stables had already been built, and the application was submitted in the hopes of retaining them.

It said: "This is a full planning application to retain a standard mono-pitch stables building with four stables and a length of 15.6 metres which was placed in the south-east corner of the field, facing west, as shown on the drawings originally submitted with the application. However, the stables building has been relocated close to the northeast corner of the site close to the entrance to the site."

It adds: "An amended site plan has been received to show the new position of the stables and also to adjacent small timber shed-like structures which are storing horse feed and horse accessories. A light gravel hardstanding has been added in front of the stables and to the side connected to the site access to the east.

"Further information has been submitted informing that there are three horses currently on the site (there were four at the time the application was submitted) and one of the four stable rooms is being used to store hay and straw."

The letters of objection raised concerns about the application such as harming the setting of a nearby listed building, traffic concerns, conflict with Green Belt policy and the quality of building materials, among other issues.

However, the officer's report concluded that the stables should be allowed to remain.

It said: "The stables building does not amount to inappropriate development in the Green Belt and is not close enough to listed buildings to affect their setting. With the safeguard of conditions requiring the appropriate completion of the development, the development would not harm the visual or residential amenities of the area. The development therefore complies with the Council's Local Plan and the government planning guidance contained in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)."