Pre-submission version of Shropshire’s Local Plan now out to consultation

A seven-week public consultation into the pre-submission version of Shropshire’s Local Plan is now open and runs until 5pm on Friday 5 February 2021.

The Plan was agreed by the council’s Cabinet on Monday 7 December 2020.

This consultation – at www.shropshire.gov.uk/get-involved – is specifically asking for comments on the ‘soundness’ of the Local Plan – and guidance is provided on the website about what this means. All comments made to this consultation will be sent to the Planning Inspectorate when the Plan is submitted for independent examination in 2021.

The Local Plan seeks to set an appropriate and sound strategy for the county, which has already been informed by five stages of public consultation.

The Shropshire Local Plan Review will set out a plan for effective growth in the county until 2038, responding to local issues while having full regard to national planning policy and guidance.

Robert Macey, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for housing and strategic planning, said:

“We are pleased to consult on the Regulation 19  pre-submission version of the Plan as we feel is plans effectively for the long-term growth of Shropshire up to 2038.

“We have listened to the significant feedback we have had from residents on the previous consultations, and believe that we have a robust plan responding to local issues and the county’s need for housing, employment and other development needs going forward, whilst also providing effective protection to the county’s substantial historic and natural assets.

“The plan really takes on board the need to support the delivery of increased levels of economic growth and the delivery of more affordable and lower cost homes, whilst also including new policies to ensure new development is high quality, provides necessary infrastructure and responds to the need to tackle the climate emergency. This is an important strategic document for the county’s future growth and we hope as many people as possible respond to the consultation.”

Following the previous round of consultation, four site allocations have been removed from the plan.

They are:

• Church Stretton: Land at Snatchfields for 70 dwellings
• Oswestry: Land at Trefonen Road for 30 dwellings
• Weston Rhyn: Land off High Street for 60 dwellings
• Shrewsbury: Land at Battlefield Roundabout for 9ha of employment land.

One site has been added to the Local Plan:

• Weston Rhyn: Land off Trehowell Lane for 60 dwellings.

In addition, the three strategic sites at the former Ironbridge Power Station, Clive Barracks, Tern Hill and RAF Cosford remain.

In July 2020, Cabinet agreed with the officer recommendation to omit land adjacent to Junction 3 of the M54 from the Local Plan Review. This decision followed a long period of deliberation, including a period of public consultation as part of the Strategic Sites consultation in summer 2019 where the council confirmed it was considering the potential inclusion of land north of Junction 3 within the Local Plan.

The land at Junction 3 has been actively promoted for a new garden village consisting of around 3,000 dwellings and 50ha of employment land, as well as the inclusion of local facilities and services. The decision in July recognised that, in the view of the council, that there were insufficient exceptional circumstances in order to release this land from the Green Belt.

The report also seeks approval in principle to accept an element of unmet employment land need from the Association of Black Country Authorities (ABCA).

The seven week public consultation runs until Friday 5 February 2021 at 5pm.