Shropshire village homes plan rejected over sewerage fear

The land proposed for the homes in Weston Rhyn, near Oswestry, is prone to flooding, councillors were told.

Residents opposed to the project, who had objected to the plans because the area had a history of poor sewerage and foul water drainage, also called for existing brownfield sites in the area to be developed instead.

The plans put forward for a field south of Aspen Grange were thrown out by members of Shropshire Council's north planning committee yesterday.

Alan Woodrow, speaking on behalf of the residents, said: "It's prone to flooding, which will cause problems with foul drainage.

"Yesterday the farmer got his four wheel drive bogged down on that field and had to get his tractor to pull it out.

"Why can't brownfield sites be used, as identified already in the village?"

Robert Davies, agent for the applicant M Richardson & Partners, said the company had spoken with Welsh Water about options for dealing with the issue.

He said they included a storage tank with pump, and on-site underground treatment facilities which would discharge into a nearby brook.

But Councillor Vince Hunt, member for Gobowen, Weston Rhyn and Selattyn, said: "Welsh Water has done something which I've not seen before, which is to support that if there is an appeal at inspector level, and that tells me that Welsh Water are not happy with the scheme.

"There is a benefit to the scheme but I don't believe it can be realised at present.

"No one's saying it can never be developed – it's a site for future development – but at the moment I don't think it's ready."

Councillor Joyce Barrow, who represents St Oswald, said: "I think we can all agree that if the infrastructure was in place we wouldn't have a problem with the scheme."

The plans were refused by a majority vote on the grounds that the extra homes would overload the sewerage network with no appropriate resolution issues available at the moment.