Councillors want more consideration for highways traffic and safety in future housing plans

Plans to knock down and transform former Shropshire Council offices in Westgate, Bridgnorth, into 30 houses were rejected recently.

The plans to create 30 homes on the site where thrown out on appeal and councillors on the planning committee are urging for more attention to be paid to traffic and road safety issues in applications.

The main cause for rejection in the plans was the fact the planning inspector felt seven of the planned houses would be a risk to safety due to a busy main road nearby.

The decision letter said that for most of the seven properties proposed, cars would not be able to enter and leave in a forward gear, and would therefore have to reverse out.

Councillors Andy Boddington and Robert Tindall, members of the Shropshire Council Southern Planning Committee, said they had no objection to houses being built, but felt there was danger surrounding the busy road and also a lack of open space.

Andy Boddington, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow said: "This application for 30 homes was rejected by the Southern Planning Committee against the advice of planning officers. When a planning committee goes against the advice of planning officers, it must appoint two councillors to defend the appeal. In this case, Councillor Robert Tindall and myself were selected with Councillor Tony Parsons in reserve.

“We attended a one day planning hearing to tell the planning inspector that we had no objection to the formal council offices being demolished and replaced by housing. We had no objection to the look of the houses.

“We were concerned that the site lacked useable open space and residents would have to cross the busy Wenlock Road to get access to sufficient space in which to kick a ball around. The inspector rejected that argument, which is disappointing as all developments of this size should have space to play safely.”

Robert Tindall, Shropshire councillor for Brown Clee, added: “Our major objection was that vehicles from seven houses would have to reverse onto the busy Ludlow Road close to the Wenlock Road junction. The inspector agreed with us on this and it was on this grounds that the appeal was rejected.

“It was disappointing that Shropshire Council had not objected to the highways access arrangements. The inspector agreed with us that Ludlow Road is major road, not just a residential street and that layout of the properties would not allow vehicles to leave going forwards.

“We see increasing pressure on highways across the county, yet the problems of traffic and road safety are rarely points of objection in planning decisions. In future, we must give much more attention to highways matters when considering planning applications.”