Ludlow supermarket decision in 2017
An out-of-town supermarket in Ludlow may be approved after all – despite councillors previously wanting it refused.
A proposed store and petrol station at Rocks Green on the edge of Ludlow will not go back before Shropshire Council's south planning committee this year, it has been revealed.
Blackfriars Developments has decided to alter its plans in the light of concerns raised at the Shirehall meeting.
Councillor Vivienne Parry, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow South, warned the plans could be waved through when it goes back to the committee in the new year.
A unanimous decision to throw out the plans was blocked by the council's own officers after a heated three-hour debate in October, but was expected to return to the committee to be rubber stamped next week after legal advice.
The supermarket next to the A49 bypass at Rocks Green has been bitterly opposed by Ludlow town centre traders among others, who said it would take trade away from the town's high street.
Councillor Parry, who spoke against the proposal at October's meeting, said she understood Blackfriars was substantially revising the plans to tackle councillors' objections.
She said: "They'll alter it all, the floor space has come down, they've turned the store around and the roadway will be a lot wider, they're really going out of their way.
"If it comes back to committee it could just go straight through," she said.
The revised plans are expected to be reconsidered by Shropshire Council in January or February.
Councillors had agreed they were "minded to refuse" the scheme, but some said a smaller store may be acceptable.
