'No public support': Shropshire plans for 335 homes rejected after 351 objections

Plans to build hundreds of houses in Oswestry have been refused.

Wain Estates submitted an outline planning application for up to 335 homes to be built on land south of Mount Road.

The scheme also included public open space, landscaping and a sustainable urban drainage system, along with a new road junction to access the site from the B4540.

Planning documents show that Wain estates would look to improve a section of the existing bridleway that crosses the site from High Fawr Avenue, on the outskirts of Oswestry.

This, the developer said, would include an enhanced surface and low level lighting, providing pedestrian and cycle access.

An area of parkland around a Grade II listed property called The Hayes, which stands next to the site, was also included in the proposal, as well as plans to retain a number of older trees when the homes were built.

However, the application drew 351 objections on Shropshire Council's planning portal, with no members of the public supporting it.

Now it has been refused by the planning authority, meaning that it wasn't referred to Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

In its decision notice, Shropshire Council said there was insufficient and inconsistent information submitted to demonstrate that the proposed development can be be served by safe, suitable and deliverable access arrangements.

It had also not been demonstrated that there were suitable sustainable travel opportunities, said the council, or that unacceptable highway safety and severe adverse effects on network capacity and congestion would be avoided.

Flooding issues were also highlighted, with the council saying that it had not be demonstrated that the risk can be satisfactorily managed.

And the proposed development would also have an "unacceptable" encroachment on the existing utility infrastructure, said the council, with the proposed development failing to demonstrate that essential services can be adequately protected or accommodated.

Reacting to the news, Councillor Wendy Owen (Lib Dem, Oswestry North) said: “I am delighted that the Secretary of State has allowed this sensible decision to be made locally, where officers have determined that this proposed development would be unsuitable if it went ahead without significant changes that could not be dealt with simply by conditions placed on an approved application.

"I would like to thank the passion of the many residents who often raised the issues with highway access and flooding in their opposition to this unsuitable development. Especially those who attended public meetings to have their voices heard and objected on the planning portal.”