Shifnal Town Council met for an Extra Ordinary Full Council Meeting on Tuesday 22nd September 2020 to discuss and approve its response to Shropshire Council’s Pre-Submission Plan Consultation. As most residents will know, Shropshire Council are seeking the views of residents in Shropshire on its draft local plan https://shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/reg-18-pre-submission-draft-local-plan-consultation/
Shropshire Council’s proposals can be found at https://shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved/reg-18-pre-submission-draft-local-plan-consultation/ The Shifnal Place Plan can be found on pages 240 – 252.
On page 241 the report states:
“Shifnal will have a key role in providing homes, jobs, services and facilities to the Place
Plan area, other Green Belt communities and the M54/A5 Strategic Corridor. Over the
Local Plan period, the town will deliver around 1,500 dwellings and make available
around 41 hectares of employment land to provide choice and competition in the
market. New housing and employment will make provision for the needs of the town and
surrounding hinterland”
Shifnal Town Council, through the work of its planning committee and in particular Cllr. Trevor Tarran have produced an excellent, robust response on behalf of its residents. The 38 page response “opposes the high housing growth figure”, and the “addition of 1500 houses to meet Black Country needs” (not Shropshire’s), especially as the County Council has not provided any evidence as to how this figure is justified.
The report raises several concerns around use of Green Belt in which Shifnal is clearly situated.
“The Green Belt Exceptional Circumstances Statement specifically states that
Shifnal will play a key role in meeting this need. This is contrary to Green Belt policy
as it will require the removal of Green Belt not to meet essential Shifnal needs and
when no alternative locations have been considered. Shropshire Council have stated
that Shifnal has infrastructure deficiencies to meet already approved housing and is
a commuter town. It also recognises the desire of residents in the town for it to retain
its village character.”
This concurs with the opinion of many residents that in its current state, Shifnal’s infrastructure is not able to cope with any further housing development on top of the many houses that have been built in the town recently.
The response also questions the feasibility of 30% of total additional housing being through the proposed windfall allowance.
With regards to employment land, the response states that it is vital that accurate figures are provided for the amount of employment land required, particularly as it would affect the amount of green belt being released.
“The Plan states that around 300ha is proposed, but says this is around 15ha a
year. However, 15ha/year over the 22 year period of the Plan equates to a total of
330ha. Totalling the individual Place Plan Area totals of employment land proposed
then gives a total of 376ha, whilst Appendix 6 states that the strategic employment
land supply will be 414ha. There is thus nearly a 40% difference in employment land
proposed within the Plan. Indeed, para 3.20 also states that Appendix 6 “provides
information on the employment completions achieved since the start of the Local
Plan period and the various commitments (including allocations) available, which will
contribute towards achieving the identified employment land requirement”. No
reasoning is given as to how if Appendix 6 contributes to the employment land
requirement and totals 414ha, the employment land figure in the Plan is stated at
300ha.”
The report does also mention RAF Cosford and the proposed air ambulance site which I supported being included in this response even though it is not part of Shifnal, but is part of the district I represent at Shropshire Council. There are objections from the Town Council and local residents in the lane. The Plan does not specify the size of land being proposed or how this relates to the needs but forward. Representatives from the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity have stated that they do not require the size of land proposed to be removed from the Green Belt, therefore one has to question what would happen to the remainder?
Again, I would like to thank the work members of the Shifnal Town Council Planning Committee and in particular Cllr. Trevor Tarran for his outstanding research and work in preparing this report.
Shropshire Council officers and members of the cabinet need to give the Town’s response serious consideration and rethink their drastic proposed changes to the Green Belt around Shifnal.
A6.1. Schedule A6 summarises the employment land supply at 31 March 2019 by Place Plan Area. The supply identifies the currently available land in the Strategic Centre, Principal Centres and Key Centres and in all Community Hubs within each Place Plan Area, all Community Clusters within a Place Plan Area and in the wider Countryside within a Place Plan Area, where land has been made available through the planning process. It identifies the completions achieved in 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 and the various forms of commitments available to achieve the identified employment development guidelines.
Edward Bird - Councillor for Shifnal South and Cosford 