Drainage fears defer scheme for 250 new homes in Shifnal
A scheme to build 250 houses in Shifnal has been deferred by councillors over concerns about drainage.
Taylor Wimpey has applied for permission to build up to 250 homes off the Wolverhampton road in Shifnal, next to the Thomas Beddoes Court development already under construction.
The company says the new development would include a new town park for new and existing residents, and there is a possibility of a new bus service to the estate in the future.
But councillors said they would not make a decision on the plans until a plan was put forward to show how drainage of the site was going to work.
The plan is the latest in a string of applications for new homes in Shifnal, but residents have repeatedly claimed that the town's infrastructure cannot cope.
Issues were raised by Councillor Stuart West, the member for Shifnal South and Cosford, about the existing "pinch points" in the town around Aston Street and how they might be worsened by the influx of new homes.
There have been more than 36 comments from members of the public on Shropshire Council's planning website, most of which oppose the plans.
Though the plans include attenuation ponds which will balance surface run-off from the development, many residents claim there are already problems in the nearby Mere stream which might be exacerbated by the new homes – and claim drainage is a key concern with this development.
Speaking against the development was resident Geoff Phillips, who has the Mere running directly through his garden.
He said: "This continually assumes the Mere has a surface water outlet which it doesn't any longer, and hasn't since the mid 1990s."
Mr Phillips told the council that a culvert which released water from the Mere had been blocked, causing water to rise in gardens along Silvermere Park.
A new outlet was built two years ago in a partnership between Shropshire Council and Taylor Wimpey, but residents said it needed to be made lower.
David Edwards, flood and water manager at the council said he would be investigating the closed culvert, but made recommendations for Taylor Wimpey to fund a pumping system to take water away from the Mere and into the town's Wesley Brook. However, councillors were not satisfied that they could approve the plans before they had a clear plan about the drainage situation.
Councillor Robert Tindall, member for Brown Clee, said: "I would like a schematic plan of how drainage is going to work, what will be unblocked and where it will be pumped to."
The proposal to defer the application was passed by a majority of seven votes to two.
