Housing plan for Telford green land is thrown out

The proposals for four fields between Muxton and Lilleshall were deemed to be detrimental to the area at a meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council's planning committee last night.

Members of the committee voted unanimously to reject the plans put forward by Gladman Developments – to the delight of more than 80 campaigners who packed out the public gallery to hear the debate.

Residents today said they would continue to fight their corner should developers oppose the decision of the planning committee.

No-one from Gladman Developments spoke at the meeting or was available for comment.

The campaigners carried signs into the hall at the Whitehouse Hotel in Wellington where the meeting was held and wore T-shirts urging councillors to "protect Muxton".

Councillor Adrian Lawrence, borough councillor for Muxton who spoke against the application at the meeting, said: "This issue has received a very strong community response. I do not think I can remember an application that has drawn such a strong response here."

He added the application would have impacted on traffic, wildlife and privacy and reminded councillors 503 residents had signed a petition opposing it.

Residents were also concerned approval could set a precedence for future applications on other green fields in the area.

The proposals would have seen four grass fields covering about 10.4 hectares of land between Muxton and Lilleshall built upon. Muxton currently has about 1,500 to 2,000 houses.

Muxton resident Phil Loughlin said: "We are delighted that we got a unanimous decision by the planning committee to refuse this application for all the right reasons which the community have been campaigning for for over six months."