Shropshire Council is under investigation after a complaint was lodged over an alleged breach of planning regulations.
The Local Government Ombudsman, which investigates allegations of malpractice, confirmed yesterday, Wednesday, that a complaint had been received about Shropshire Council and that investigations were ongoing.
The allegations centre on a housing development south of Callow Lane in Minsterley where 19 two and three bedroom homes are being built. The work is being carried out for Severnside Housing following planning permission, but residents claim the plans have been amended without consultation.
They say the original design plan last August had the access road leading to Callow Lane showing a visibility of 60 metres to a blind corner on the right and 90 metres to the brow of a hill on the left.
But when builders started work several months later, villagers realised the plans had been altered without further consultation making the visibility much shorter and the designs of houses and locations on the site had also changed.
Locals claim the council has breached guidelines set out in its own Charter for Development Management document.
The document states that ‘minor changes will usually be subject to re-consultation or notification in accordance with agreed practices.’
Rob Rundell, spokesperson for the Local Government Ombudsman, said: “I can confirm that we have received a complaint against Shropshire Council and it is currently under investigation. The case is at an early stage but we have made initial enquiries.”
A resident, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s totally frustrating because they seem to be doing exactly what they want. We had the original plans but by the time they had gone through the approval process all these new changes had been made without any further consultation – despite the new access road making Callow Lane particularly dangerous.”
Shropshire Council was unavailable for comment when the Chronicle went to press.
By David Seadon
