MP vows to block 'excessive housing' in Telford

Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard said plans for up to 18,500 homes in Telford and Wrekin were "disproportionate" and "unsustainable".

He believes building on green fields should only be considered as a last resort.

Mr Pritchard has now launched a petition which he intends to hand to both Telford & Wrekin Council and Shropshire Council.

"When I travel around my constituency, people tell me that they are not against housing but they are against excessive housing," he said.

"So many of the developments put forward are disproportionate and unsustainable, both physically and socially.

"It flies in the face of the Quiet Lanes policy, it will lead to a schools place crisis and it will take away access to green fields. This is completely unacceptable. It's too much too soon."

A masterplan for about 20,000 homes in Telford and Wrekin is being developed by the borough council in response to Government demands for more new housing. They would be built over the next 17 years.

Almost 12,000 homes already have planning permission and a new development plan, Shaping Places, has identified a potential 80 sites on which up to another 8,000 could be built.

Mr Pritchard said he had already had a "huge response" to his petition, which can be downloaded and signed on his Facebook Protect Green Spaces in The Wrekin Constituency page, or at www.markpritchard.com

Michael Barker, Telford & Wrekin Council's head of planning,

urged people to make their opinions heard before the consultation period closes on June 17.