13,000 extra homes could be built in Shropshire within the next 20 years
A further 13,000 homes could be built in Shropshire before 2036, it has emerged.
It forms part of the Shropshire Local Plan – Shropshire Council's blueprint for future development and the starting point for planning decisions in the county.
The current plan covers the period 2006 to 2026.
But to reflect changes in national policy, Shropshire Council is to carry out a partial review of the current plan and extend it to cover the period up to 2036.
Under the existing local plan, 27,500 houses will be required between 2006 and 2026. By 2016, about 15,400 houses had been built, the unitary authority has revealed.
The review of the plan will ask whether an additional 11,000, 12,000 or 13,000 houses should be built between now and 2036.
Mal Price, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for planning and housing, said: "The local plan review will provide an up-to-date and deliverable plan for Shropshire.
"This will help to maintain local control over planning decisions by ensuring that the adopted policies and proposals remain the starting point for decisions about development in Shropshire during the period to 2036.
"At this first stage, the review will focus on strategic issues and key areas of change, including options for the level and distribution of new housing and strategies for employment growth to 2036.
"The existing approach of focusing growth in Shropshire's county town, market towns and key centres, whilst enabling some controlled development in rural areas to maintain local sustainability, will remain at the heart of the development strategy."
Subject to approval by the council's cabinet at a meeting on Thursda, an eight week consultation into the new plan will be carried out from Monday to March 20.
The consultation document will be made available on Shropshire Council's website, and paper copies will be provided at libraries and council offices in the county's main towns.
The council said about 4,000 organisations and individuals have previously registered an interest and will be notified directly of the publication of the consultation documents by email.
Consultation responses will be used to inform the next stages of the review, and further consultation on a full draft of the reviewed local plan covering a wider range of issues is due to be carried out in the early part of 2018.
The current local plan comprises the core strategy, the Site Allocations and Management of Development Plan, known as SAMDev, and any adopted formal neighbourhood plans.
Following the review a single new local plan document will be produced.
