Newport homes plan submitted
Tuesday 25th October 2011, 9:00PM BST.
Controversial plans for more than 200 homes, new allotments and a new children’s play area in Newport have been lodged by developers.
The proposals would see 215 homes built on land north of Audley Avenue in the town alongside public open space.
The plans are part of a wider development across the town which could see about 900 homes, a petrol station and a supermarket built in Audley Avenue and either side of Station Road.
Some residents and councillors have raised strong objections to the plans, claiming they would shatter the fragile local economy.
Developers St Modwen has lodged the proposals for 215 homes with Telford & Wrekin Council, which will consider the application.
St Modwen bosses say there will also be the potential for improvements to the Shukers Fields sports site including a refurbishment of the pavilion, drainage work to the pitches and an extension to the car park.
Mike Timmins, senior planning surveyor for St Modwen, added a new children’s play area would be provided and an extensive network of new footpaths will also be created if the proposals are approved.
He said: “This Audley Avenue site provides an excellent opportunity for an exciting new residential development which integrates well with Newport.”
He added: “The site currently has no overriding environmental or physical constraints and provides the opportunity to establish a sustainable new residential development which is both physically and visually well contained.
“The site was originally identified as being suitable for development in the September 2005 draft Allocations Document for approximately 270 dwellings.
“Based on the technical work and consultation we have since undertaken for this application we are content that the proposals we have submitted are compliant with the adopted Core Strategy for the area.”
If the application is approved by council bosses St Modwen expects work to begin on site next summer.
St Modwen and partner Davidsons Developments say the whole redevelopment could create 500 jobs and bring investment into Newport.
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It is claimed that development will cause the “death of Newport.” However, Newport is already in the emergency room receiving the last rights. Development will create more homes, people and business in the town which might just save it. But the parochial locals are, as ever, terrified of any form of change or progress even though it will actually come to the aid of their ailing town.
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So where are these people going to send their children to school? Which doctor and dentist will they use? Where will they park when/if they drive into Newport to go shopping?
How will Newport as a community benefit when the football pitches that people used to come together, socialise and to get to know each other better are going to be concreted over in favour of building a load of drab identikit houses?
How will Newport cemetery benefit when there is a huge amount of construction going on in the surrounding area? Personally, I don’t like the idea of going to a burial when all I can hear are the sounds of construction machinery and the building crews.
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We need solutions, not questions.
With regards to schools, there are hundreds of children from Telford attending all three of the senior schools so there is clearly plenty of capacity for people living in Newport. And many of the older students drive to Newport and park their cars on New St and Stafford St car parks, hence the parking issues.
Basically, your gripes concern the need for parking restrictions on the car parks (yet Novaportans were up in arms when parking charges were introduced) and concerns about possible construction near the cemetery if you happen to be attending a burial.
Can’t you see that more people creates demand that drives a local economy? Perhaps Newport is better off without investment so that it can die its death if it produces such parochialism.
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and this increased population will work where?
Newport is only dying through lack of employment which would encourage new growth naturally.
ps (unless of course this new housing has already been advertised in Rumania/poland/islamabad etc then please excuse the criticism)
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Newport is dying because of the parking problems. I have worked here 6 years and in that time Stafford Street carpark has lost many spaces and Waitrose and Co-Op impose restrictions on parking time. On any given day after 9am Stafford Street is generally full. The 2 hour restrictions on the other car parks prevent the type of “browsing” shopping this town needs. People only have the time to do the necessary tasks i.e. post office, pharmacy etc and do not then have time to browse in the smaller shops. My parents have problems walking and as they are unable to go around Newport in 2 hours it has put them off coming here altogether. I have seen many shops close in the last year or so and many have not been re-let. Why not “Develop” a new car park for the town?
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The town centre of Newport is dying not because of lack of parking but because unless you’re planning on getting a haircut, manicure, gift card, or 2nd hand clothes it has nothing to offer you.
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Bathroom tiles, inked skin, a pint and a bite, a bunch of flowers, a flutter on the gee gees, coffins and gravestones, drugs galore (legal, of course), a new house, grime spots removed from your dress or suit, treatment for your pet hamster, a holiday in the sun, a new dishwasher, some brand new threads, shoes for the kids, fine cheeses, home insurance, a mobile phone, party supplies, a new cricket bat, a pair of specs, a new bed, steaks and sausages, fresh fruit and veg…
It seems to have a bit more to offer then you suggest.
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Well said, Jake!
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Dont forget DVD’s, New clothes, Subways, House supplies and books
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OK you’re kind of missing my point.
Yes I can buy a grave stone, yes I can buy a saucepan, yes I can buy a fish. But how often would I need to do that?
But in the one mile strip that is Newport Town centre I have a choice of getting my hair cut in 20 different hairdressers, getting my nails done in 6 different boutiques, and the opertunity to go home in 2nd hand clothes from more charity shops than you can shake a stick at. As for clothes, which in my opinion is the main draw for any shopping centre there is one maybe two shops.
What is there to make people think “hey lets walk into Newport instead of driving to Telford to spend our money?” Be honest, not very much, the town centre seems to be set up for £10 purchases.
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As per normal development will be opposed unless the complainers see an easy and foolproof method of increasing the value of their wealth. The want no houses built unless it provides accommodation for their kin and nobody else.
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How many of theses people complaining have lived in Newport long?
A lot of the housing estates in Newport are less than about 40 years old. I remember Five oaks when it was not housing, Boughey Road and all roads leading off, the Ashworth estate hundreds of houses we never had before. Newport has grown but planners want houses in the town centre and shops out of town, let’s have shops in the town centre
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Newport has already had a flood of “affordable housing” developments The current plans will add about a thousand more cars to our streets.
Many families have more than one car.
So what happens next year?
Where will the next thousand houses be built?
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