Redevelopment plans for former Sankey's site in Telford face more backlash from residents

The 46.6-hectare site has been used for manufacturing processes for many years - most recently having been the home of GKN Sankey - before the application by Birmingham-based company Mercia Real Estate (HPE) Limited.

The company submitted plans to build five new units with up to 90,951 square metres of commercial floor space at the site, with office space, parking and gatehouses in August.

But after the plans received over 300 objections in just a couple of weeks, councillors voted to defer the decision until more consultation had taken place with residents. 

Councillor Thomas Janke, sitting on the planning committee, said that applications of such scale 'need to bring along residents with them'.

"When we consider there have been 300 objections and a lot of unknowns and fear in the room, we need to consider residents' concerns," he said.

Councillor Nigel Dugmore added: "It is going to be difficult to find planning reasons for no development for industrial use on this site, and the applicant has mitigated some of the issues, but not all. We don’t know who will be there, but it will probably be someone operating 24/7.

"I do think a bit of thought needs to go into this, and really this application should be an outline one so once we know who will be the operator in these buildings, we can start to iron out these details."

Since the meeting, objections have continued to roll in from residents, regarding traffic, noise, the impact on biodiversity, and the vicinity of the scheme to two historic canal locks.

Councillor Jordan Keeble of Hadley and Leegomery Parish argued the current plans "negatively impact the local community".

The councillor claimed there was "not due consideration to the impacts on traffic within the surrounding area", argued for more consideration to be given to the preservation of the locks and their use for the community and said that neighbouring properties would be impacted by the scale of the new buildings.

The height of the planned buildings has been reduced since the original plans, but some neighbours worry that the change would not be sufficient.

"The height of the buildings will severely impact residents living closest to the largest of the buildings which will block natural light, cause loss of privacy and will not fit in with the landscape of the area," wrote Leegomery resident, Mrs Perks.

The full application is available to view online at Telford & Wrekin Council's planning portal, using the reference number TWC/2023/0673.