Crop field south of Newport can be used for 166 homes, councillors decide

Controversial plans for 166 homes on a crop growing field south of Newport have been approved by councillors.

The land off The Dale, Church Aston, was classified as open countryside in the old local plan which is in its dying days as the borough's planning bible.

But the land has been allocated for housing in the emerging new local plan which has undergone an examination by government inspectors but is undergoing final technical assessments before assumed adoption later this year.

A meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council's planning committee was told that planning inspectors have not raised any issues about the Church Aston site being included.

Officials consider it to be effectively done and dusted and recommended the scheme for approval with conditions at a meeting of the committee on Wednesday, July 22, 2026.

Councillor Peter Scott (Independent, Newport West) said: "I don't think we should be seeing any application here. The new plan is emerging but it has not emerged yet.

"The local plan should be ratified first."

Councillor Scott was also 'dismayed' over a health commissioner's proposal that in the short term new NHS patients would be using a GP surgery in Muxton. Muxton has itself been earmarked for 2,700 new homes.

"The surgery will be overrun," he said.

He urged officials to build a new Newport health centre to be able to cope. He added that "rejecting it would not hold water" but he did not want to vote for it.

Ward councillor Andrew Eade (Conservative, Church Aston and Lilleshall) said he remains "totally opposed" to building on greenfield sites "wherever they may be."

Speaking from the public gallery as he is not a member of the planning committee, Councillor Eade paid tribute to '156 objections' put forward members of the Church Aston community who wanted to protect the village and "an important sense of identity."

But he added that if councillors approved it they should add a pedestrian crossing over the A518 to link Church Aston with Chetwynd Aston.

Councillor Eade told Wednesday's meeting that Bellway Homes was willing to tweak some of the £2.7million it was agreeing in section 106 contributions to do so.

There are already dropped kerbs and a central reservation to help pedestrians cross the road.

However, officials cited reasons to reject the proposed crossing. The scheme does include the construction of a new roundabout and official routes for pedestrians and cyclists.

Councillor Giles Luter (Labour, Ercall) stressed the importance of holding the developers to their financial and other commitments, which include providing 58 'affordable' homes.

"It is important that we keep the developers to that and it is non-negotiable," he said.

Gemma Johnson, on behalf of developer Bellway Homes told the committee that the plans included 32 per cent open space, a 10 per cent uplift in biodiversity and a housing density of 28.4 dwellings per hectare.

She said there will be "economic, social and environmental benefits" including 35 per cent of the homes being "affordable."

The meeting was told by a planning officer that the 58 affordable homes would be for social rent, 'affordable' housing and shared ownership. The housing would also provide seven bungalows.

The official said there were "understandable concerns" in the local community but there had been "no technical objections".

Councillor Nigel Dugmore (Conservative, Muxton) said: "On our site visit it was nice looking over fields of maize that won't be there much longer."

He added that the schools are full and the doctors "can't cope".

Councillor Dugmore, who voted against the plan, added that there are "material reasons why this should not go ahead."

Responding to concerns that the developers could come back to the council and reduce the number of affordable homes, a planning officer told the meeting that they "can't guarantee" that this would not happen.

But the meeting was told that this could only be done following the presentation of "robust evidence" which would be "independently scrutinised."

Before councillors voted to approve the scheme, councillor Scott appealed to the developers not to close the A518 to build the new traffic island.

"Bellway, don't close the road," he said, referring to similar closures in the Newport area.

"People cant stand it."

The committee voted in favour of planning permission.