Rural areas to lose out in local plan Lib Dem councillors say
Residents in a number of rural areas in Shropshire have expressed their anger at the cavalier way their submissions in the local plan consultation has been dealt with by Shropshire Council, liberal democrat councillors say.
Shropshire Council will discuss the plan tomorrow .
Nigel Hartin, Shropshire Councillor for Clun Division, said: "This Local Plan is going to have a major impact on most of our settlements for years to come defining how many housing developments can take place and where.
"Where I live in Bucknell there were two sites up for consultation. One, the Timber Yard, is a brownfield site and one, Redlake Meadlow, a greenfield site originally proposed by Council Officers in the SAMDEV process some 10 years ago.
Local residents including the Parish Council and myself overwhelmingly opted for the brownfield development at the Timber Yard. Now the plan up for discussion in cabinet on Monday has put the development of a Greenfield site as a priority over Brownfield site in direct contravention of its own policy.
"It also seems that due to a lack of staff, Shropshire Council has been unable to process the contributions of many residents making the whole consultation process meaningless.
"There is also real concern about the impact that the Government's proposed planning White Paper which is dubbed a 'Developer's Charter'. What is particularly bad about this proposal is that it seems to give developers a free hand to build on any ‘allocated land’ without needing planning permission. In my area, this could mean that the allocated sites now being consulted on (in Clun for instance) could be built on without the need for planning permission in future."
Heather Kidd, Shropshire Councillor for Chirbury and Worthen added:
"The Village of Worthen was already unhappy about this plan. It saw the number of houses planned rise from 30 to 55. Worse was the 'allocation' of this land will accommodate up to 40 more. If the planning White paper goes through any developer can go on to this new site and build as many houses as they can fit without planning permission. Worthen could then face 85 -95 more houses.
"This would have a huge impact on a village which only has 148 properties at present.
"Most importantly the village wants housing but only 2-3 bedrooms family housing to help sustain the school, the Doctors Surgery, the village Hall and the Shop. Developers should not be able to build big executive housing for maximum profit""
