Two ‘green’ areas of Shrewsbury could have more than 1,600 homes built on them under plans to create new districts in the town.
Proposals for 900 new homes along Oteley Road, and 700 to the north of Welshpool Road, as well as an extension to the Shrewsbury Business Park off Thieves Lane have been put forward in a council report.
Cabinet yesterday, Wednesday, recommended the full council which meets today approve the document, and that it is then submitted to the Secretary of State for examination.
The core planning strategy includes every bit of land put forward by landowners for housing and employment development which, following further proposals and consultation, will go on to inform the Local Development Framework.
Dave Wallace, team leader for communities and housing policy at Shropshire Council, said the figures related to development that would take place over the next 26 years.
“At this stage in the process it’s not so much developers as the promoters of land who are acting on behalf of the landowners in putting forward these sites. Every bit of land on the bypass of Shrewsbury has been promoted by landowners and it is basically a case of take your pick assessing things like transport infrastructure, landscape character, accessibility to services and the relationship to the existing built-up area.
“A lot is in the north of the town and the advice from our consultants is that it would be advantageous to have employment land in the south as well because of its good links to the A5.”
Dave Kilby, a resident in Bicton Heath, said he had expected some development of the green fields to the north of the town, especially with the North West Relief Road being muted.
“Development is inevitable, houses have to go somewhere and there are some obvious sites in the area,” he said.
“The new primary school at Bicton could take more children so its was fairly obvious they were planning for future growth.”
Representatives from the Campaign to Protect Rural England called on Shropshire Council’s cabinet to postpone approval of the core strategy to take into account new housing figures.
Andy Boddington, CPRE Shropshire chairman, said: “Shropshire Council is bulldozing ahead with plans to build up to 27,500 homes in Shropshire by 2026, the target set by the previous Government. Here is a very real danger that it will unleash a housebuilding frenzy across the green fields of Shropshire.”
By Anna Williams
