Proposal for 100 homes near Market Drayton rejected for the second time

Shropshire Council planners turned it down because "it is considered that the proposal is pre-empting the new Local Plan which is still going through the adoption process." The site is considered to be in the open countryside.

The planners added that even though 147 dwellings are needed in Market Drayton there is "no evidence" that this could not be achieved by 2026.

"Early delivery of the site to meet a housing need is not considered to be necessary to meet Shropshire or Market Drayton’s housing needs and thus would not be a significant material benefit at this stage," said the planners.

"Furthermore it is questioned whether this application would deliver early given its outline status."

Although it could be a site in the local plan this is not yet the case and the "examination process should not be prejudiced by any early approval of a proposed allocated site."

A council planning officer said: "It has not been possible to identify any significant additional community or other sustainable material benefits from the information that has been submitted to warrant an early approval of the site."

The application had sought outline planning permission for up to 100 dwellings, structural planting and landscaping, informal public open space and children’s play area, surface water flood mitigation, vehicular access point and associated highways improvement works.

A previous application had been refused on January 19.

The site is accessed off the lane that connects Shrewsbury Road in Market Drayton to the village of Longford.

The reaction from locals has been the same, with Ms Ruth Glover summing up many of the objections lodged on the council's planning website.

Ms Glover said: "There are enough houses being built without the proper infrastructure to support the increase in the population, for example school places and doctors' practice being overwhelmed.

"The majority of the houses are occupied by people working outside the town - this increases the number of cars on the road. Also the loss of farmland. The population continues to increase but people still need to be fed."

Peter Handley added: "The infrastructure in the area and town can't cope with what it has, let alone more houses on a country lane.

"The medical centre can't cope now so with what's being built now plus this it defies common sense."

In their supporting documents, the applicants say that national planning guidance has changed since the recently-rejected application for the 5.26 hectare site, which is an irregularly shaped agricultural field.

In conclusion the developer's agents say it will be a "sustainable and positive addition to Market Drayton, enabling a healthy expansion to the existing town whilst also corresponding well with the position of other new development in the area.

"It lies in a sustainable location, with good accessibility to services, employment opportunities, facilities and public transport provision."

They say they have demonstrated how the land within the site has been used efficiently, and optimises the use of the land to meet as much of the identified need for housing as possible.

"This document has described the existing constraints and opportunities of the site, and establishes the parameters for a well-designed, beautiful and sustainable development," they add.