Shropshire Star

Row as Bishop's Castle housing plans come back to council

A row is brewing in Bishop's Castle over two housing estates planned around what objectors say is a dangerous road.

Published

Members of Bishop's Castle Town Council have reacted angrily after plans to build 10 homes off Woodbatch Road were resubmitted, despite being unanimously rejected three months ago by Shropshire Council's south planning committee.

The town council has also objected to a proposal to build a further 10 homes nearby at Lavender Bank. Both applications have been recommended for approval by planning officers at Shirehall ahead of a meeting of the south planning committee on Tuesday. No objections have been raised by highways officers to either scheme, despite fears over access to both sites along the narrow Kerry Lane.

Planning officers have said new information had been presented to support the Woodbatch Road application which is why the committee will be asked to look at the scheme again. They also suggested that developers could appeal to the Planning Inspectorate if the refusal is upheld.

Councillor Karen Bavastock, mayor of Bishop's Castle, said to her knowledge it was unprecedented that plans would be resubmitted with minimal alterations so soon after being rejected.

"We strongly object to it and we're very disappointed that it is back," she said.

Diane Malley, town clerk, said: "The difficulty with both applications is access. The road is very narrow and Bishop's Castle Primary School is off there, so in the morning there are lots of parents using the road."

She said the Church Lane junction on Kerry Lane was actually busier than the town centre's main Boar's Head junction. Kerry Lane, which is single track in places, has no footpath and five junctions next to each other, and was judged to be already over-congested by the planning committee.

Representatives of the town council will be speaking against both plans at the committee meeting

Members of the town council agreed a motion at a meeting on Tuesday to consider raising a complaint to the leader of Shropshire Council Keith Barrow regarding the "cavalier" way in which the original decision had been ignored.

Grahame French, planning officer for Shropshire Council, said: "An application would not normally be reported back to committee after a resolution has been made. However, it is considered a number of new factors have come to light since the original resolution, and it is appropriate to draw these to the attention of members."

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.