'I've lived here for 90 years - I don't know how it will cope with 98 more houses' says Shropshire villager
A woman who has lived in a Shropshire village for more than 90 years has questioned how it would cope with almost 100 new houses.
Wain Estates Land (Limited) has submitted outline plans for 98 properties on land to the east of Merrington Road in Bomere Heath, near Shrewsbury.
A total of 15 per cent would be classed as affordable, say the developer, with 4.9 hectares of new green infrastructure, including walking and leisure routes and associated amenities also being provided.
There would be green and blue infrastructure corridors with wildflower planting and structural landscaping surrounding the development, as well as a new wetland feature to the north of the site.
“Where the proposed development is visible from public vantage points, it will be seen within the context of the existing adjoining settlement of Bomere Heath, and will not appear out of character,” said a spokesperson for for agents Iceni Projects.
“New planting, particularly along the southern and eastern boundaries, will help to filter and soften views as it matures, further integrating the development into the landscape.”
Access will be via the open land between two recently developed blocks of housing.
The firm says a consultation was held, which included distributing around 777 leaflets to households and local stakeholders, while a dedicated website was also set up.
In total, 60 feedback responses were received with key concerns being highways safety, drainage, infrastructure capacity, landscape impact, and the scale of the development.
The Iceni Projects spokesperson said the responses have been addressed through the design evolution of the scheme, with a transport assessment, and flood risk and drainage strategies being carried out.
However, out of 48 comments that have been submitted via Shropshire Council’s planning portal (reference 25/02929/OUT), 46 are against the scheme, with the consultation expiring on October 17.
One person who is worried is is 94-year-old Cherie Parry. She said that if more houses are to be built in the village, then the services and infrastructure needed to support them must also be included.
“Bomere Heath’s water supply comes from a borehole, and this cannot be expected to supply these additional homes when we are in an era of climate change with issues of water shortage,” she said.
“What about the sewerage system? Would the small sewerage works have to be extended? Various areas of the village suffer from electric cuts. Will another 100 homes put even more pressure on the grid causing more failures?
“These homes are beyond the original limit of Bomere Heath where we were told houses wouldn’t be built on agricultural land.
“Can the roads of Bomere Heath and Merrington deal with the number of additional cars that would come from these homes? Most of the roads in the area are narrow both in the village and in the surroundings.
“There are invariably parked cars all down the main road which makes it very dangerous.
“But most importantly, Bomere Heath requires a doctor’s surgery. It could be shared between the two local surgeries of Baschurch and Clive, but we understand Baschurch patient’s list is full and Clive hasn’t been taking on many new patients.
“Years ago, both doctor’s held outreach surgeries within the village. There have been numerous houses built and yet doctors no longer come into the village to hold a surgery. This severely impacts the many elderly or non-driving residents.”
Mrs Parry added that, just before the Covic pandemic, she was told by a parish council representative that a surgery couldn’t be built in the village because then more houses would have to be built.
However, at least 200 since been built, she said, and now another 98 is being proposed.
“Yet, the village has no doctor, a junior school that we believe is near capacity, a pub that appears to have issues keeping managers, and a small Co-op that is not stocked to deal with large number of customers,” said Mrs Parry.
“There is a hair salon which is only open three-and-a-half days a week and a fish and chip shop, but there is no longer a post office outreach service.
“Public transport only runs through the main village if you are able to walk that far. There are very few amenities for the youth of the village.
“It would appear that whilst many people want to live in a ‘village’, there is very little enthusiasm amongst most new residents for volunteering and supporting projects within it. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there is hardly any community spirit in the village now which is such a shame.”
