Traffic fears fail to halt proposal for 25 houses in Shrewsbury
Plans to build 25 homes were narrowly approved by Shropshire Council's Central Planning Committee – despite concerns of "over-development".
Members voted by five to four to grant planning permission for the homes at land off Hillside Drive in Shrewsbury.
The application had been called before the committee because of the concerns of councillor Pam Moseley, that developers Galliers Homes had applied to build 25 homes on a site which was earmarked for 20 in the county's development plan.
However, planning officer Jane Raymond, warned councillors that could not be considered as grounds to refuse the application because figures for the number of houses on sites are considered "guidance" and not a restricting limit.
Councillor Moseley also raised concerns over the impact more traffic could have on the safety of people using Hillside Drive. She said: "On the face of it five extra properties may not seem significant but this increase represents an extra 20 per cent on the figure outlined in SAMdev. Twenty-five properties is simply too many for the site, 20 is more appropriate."
Councillor Kevin Pardy said he believed Hillside Road would prove "very dangerous" because of the increase in traffic.
However, Councillor Peter Nutting, said he believed the site could cope with the amount of houses proposed and said there were no reasonable grounds to reject the plan.
He said: "I am really struggling to find any realistic reason to say no to this."
Councillors were also asked at Thursday's meeting to include conditions which restrict construction work to 7.30am to 6pm from Monday to Friday, from 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, and none at all on Sundays or bank holidays.
