Shropshire airbase car store plans withdrawn
The company behind plans to turn a former Shropshire airbase into a huge car storage depot has withdrawn its plans, it was revealed today.
Greenhous Group, which runs car dealerships across Shropshire, bought the former RAF base at High Ercall, between Shrewsbury and Telford, last December after it went on sale for £1.5 million.
The company, which sells more than 100,000 cars each year through its 35 franchise dealerships, applied to turn the 34-acre site – called the Angel Centre – into a storage depot and repair workshop, a move that would concentrate its operations on one site and create 50 jobs.
The change of use application was due to be decided by Telford & Wrekin Council officers later this month using delegated powers.
This meant it would not go before elected councillors – a move that had caused anger among people living nearby who feared the narrow country roads surrounding the site would not be able to cope.
On Monday Telford & Wrekin Council wrote to Greenhous urging it to withdraw the application as the authority was "minded to refuse" it.
In an email to Greenhous, Libby Harper, the council's senior planning officer, cited concerns over highways and a lack of information on how the move would affect the local ecology of the site, which has been unoccupied for a decade and could be home to bat roosts.
Greenhous said today it had accepted the council's advice.
Spokesman Martin James said: "We are in discussions with Highways England and Telford and Wrekin Council to address any concerns and are trying to work out ways to alleviate them.
"At this stage we will be withdrawing the application in its present form."
