Less than a month to go to key planning hearings that will shape Telford and Wrekin's future
A series of hearings about Telford and Wrekin's local plan will begin next month, with implications for how the borough will develop until 2040.
There has already been to-ing and fro-ing between Telford & Wrekin Council planners and government-appointed planning inspectors Mike Worden and Catherine Carpenter, who have requested more details on some issues regarding the borough's local plan.
Documents reveal that three weeks’ worth of hearings will start on Tuesday, February 24 by tackling one of the most controversial subjects – the duty to cooperate with other councils.
Telford and Wrekin’s local plan is to allow 20,200 homes to be built up to 2040, at a rate of 1,010 every year of the plan. Some 153 of them are earmarked as a "contribution to the unmet needs of the Black Country".
The plan has already allocated 57 per cent of those homes through being built or being granted planning permission. Officers point out that the local plan will therefore need to find land to deliver the remaining 43 per cent – 429 homes per year during the plan period.
The issue of providing homes for the Black Country was one of a number which led the Planning Inspectorate to raise ‘soundness’ concerns over Shropshire Council’s local plan.
The process of preparing a local plan in Shropshire was withdrawn last summer and started all over again, leading to concerns that developers have the whip hand while an updated local plan is not in place.
After the inspectors make their introductions and the council makes its opening statements on February 24 the hearings will go straight into a discussion about the duty to co-operate.
The hearings will also consider how government policy announcements in November 2025 have changed what needs to happen.
Inspectors Worden and Carpenter’s first question will be whether the council has submitted robust evidence to demonstrate that the duty to co-operate has been met.
They will also ask whether the council has carried out effective engagement with neighbouring local authorities and other prescribed bodies.
Documents reveal that developers Barratt Redrow Homes, Boningale Developments Limited and Wolverhampton Council are all listed to be present.
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation is also noted as being a participant on the first day. Its interest is in barracks in Donnington which have been included in the local plan.
During other hearing dates, a number of councillors, lobby groups and organisations are listed to speak.
The council and attendees will also discuss the development strategy and go through the finer details of how and why the council chose to develop nearly 8,000 homes in three giant new developments at Bratton, Wheat Leasows, and Muxton.
The hearing sessions are set to be recorded and published online, but not live streamed.
Learn more here.
