A public inquiry will be held this month into Shropshire’s new planning strategy which will help guide development across the county over the next 15 to 20 years.

The hearing, which opens on November 16, will be chaired by a Government appointed inspector and is expected to last eight days. The Core Strategy, which contains 20 key policies, recommends that up to 27,500 new homes are built in the period to 2026.

Shirehall planners have previously said the figure is reasonable, realistic and appropriate, and reflects local needs and demands.

Shropshire Council is hoping it can adopt the Core Strategy next March.

It is the first of two major planning policy documents forming what is known as the Local Development Framework which will replace the local plans of the former district and borough councils, and the old county structure plan.

The second document is the SAMDev – Site Allocations and Management of Development.

This has been the subject of a huge consultation exercise with towns and parishes – more than 70 meetings – and the initial results from the responses will be reported to the council cabinet next Wednesday.

The SAMDev when eventually adopted will allocate sites for housing and business development.

Almost 4,000 responses have been received from residents, parish and town councils, businesses and other organisations.

There will be further consultation next year and 2012 before the final SAMDev document is prepared.

The aim is for the market towns and other communities to decide where development is most needed.

The cabinet report says that the amount of housing suggested during the consultation is in line with the Core Strategy figure.

“Clearly some towns have aspirations for growth whereas others are looking towards a period of consolidation or stability after periods of recent growth,” says the report.

“Certain places are seeking levels of housing lower than originally anticipated, but as the emphasis of Shropshire’s approach has shifted towards community led planning there may be scope for these lower numbers to be accepted in some cases.”

By Dave Morris