1,500-home Tasley Garden Village housing development on outskirts of Bridgnorth gets the green light
One of the largest housing developments to come before a committee at Shropshire Council for years has been given the green light by county planners.
Plans for Tasley Garden Village, a 1,500-home development planned for southwestern edge of Bridgnorth, was submitted by Bloor Homes Limited and Taylor Wimpey in May 2025.
Today (February 23) following a prolonged consultation process, the proposals finally went before Shropshire Council’s southern planning committee for councillors to make a decision on the plans.
The committee was told that the Tasley site was "open countryside/agricultural land of 112.3 hectares located in eastern Shropshire on the southwestern edge of Bridgnorth” that straddled three parish council areas: Morville, Bridgnorth and Tasley.
Jonathan Burns, senior planning director at Pegasus Group, agents for Bloor Homes and Taylor Wimpey, said the proposals had been six years in the making and that the developers had engaged with the community throughout the process.
He pointed out to the committee that not only would the plans meet a range of housing needs for the area, and include sports facilities, a country park and new homes, there would also be an allocation of 14.6 hectares for employment land that would create jobs and support local enterprise.
He added that section 106 obligations will also include delivery of primary school infrastructure, medical centre facilities and the establishment of a new bus service.
Rob Woodcock from grassroots football club the Bridgnorth Spartans also spoke up in favour of the plans.
He said the sports facilities would provide the club with a new home, but he said he understood the "strength of feeling" around the development, but added that the new sports facilities would "bring people together".
However, all three parish and town councils where the proposed site straddles also addressed the committee with objections to the plans.
In a statement, Tasley Parish Council said it “unanimously objects” to the planning application. It said the site was “too big and sited in the wrong location in a rural setting on prime agricultural land”.
The parish council added that building 1,500 homes in the area “could not be justified” and suggested the development would be better near to junction 2 of the M54.
Morville Parish Council said it too objected. A spokesperson told the committee that garden villages should “meet affordable home needs” but just 20 per cent of the housing was proposed to be “affordable”. The parish council described the plans as “unsound”.
Meanwhile the mayor of Bridgnorth, David Cooper, who also addressed the planning committee, said the proposal has attracted “much local concern”.
He said proposals to mitigate potential traffic and transport issues were “lightweight”, saying the plans would “significantly” alter the town.
“As well as obvious issues such as transport we feel wider implications of the town should be understood including the effect on leisure facilities,” he said, urging councillors to refuse the proposal.
Councillor Rachel Connolly, who represents Bridgnorth and Tasley on Shropshire Council, added that she too had “significant concerns” over the plans.
She said along with the separate Tasley Gateway development of 550 homes, this new housing estate would be “unsustainable for Bridgnorth”. She said she feared Tasley Garden Village would become a “commuter suburb”.
Meanwhile Councillor George Hollyhead (Brown Clee) told the committee the plans “did not work for Bridgnorth, did not work for Tasley and did not work for Morville".
"In short, it is too big and the impacts too great."
Councillor Beverley Waite (Ludlow) told the committee that while there were many reasons the development should not go ahead, there were also “many reasons why it should”.
She added that if the committee turned the proposals down “it may be forced on us anyway”.
When it came to a vote, two councillors on the 11-member committee, George Hollyhead and Rachel Connolly, recused themselves due to council rules as they represent the site area.
The rest of the committee went ahead and approved the plans by six votes in favour to one against.
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