Shropshire MPs Column - the latest from the county's representatives in Westminster

I haven’t yet met anyone who has argued that we should stop building new homes.

Across Shropshire, as in much of the country, there is a clear and understandable need to increase housing supply. Young families need somewhere to live, older residents want suitable homes to downsize into, and our villages need thoughtful development if they are to remain vibrant and sustainable.

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But on the other side of the coin, there’s an issue that residents raise with me time and again - new homes bring new pressures, and nowhere is that felt more sharply than at the GP surgery.

The figures for Shropshire are stark. Since 2015, more than 8,700 new homes have been built across the county. Over the same period, the number of GP practices has gone in the opposite direction - falling from 45 to just 40.

The result is that each GP practice is now, on average, serving an additional 727 households compared to a decade ago. That is an increase of almost 25 per cent, and it’s little wonder surgeries are under such intense strain.

Behind those numbers are people struggling to get appointments, GPs working under relentless pressure, and communities feeling that local services have failed to keep pace with development.

In North Shropshire, and across the county, residents are understandably frustrated when new housing estates grow, while promised GP surgeries never appear.

This is why I believe housing development and GP capacity must go hand in hand. When new homes are built, investment in local healthcare should not be an afterthought or an aspiration for some point in the future.

New or expanded GP surgeries should be up and running as soon as the first homes are sold - not years later, once pressure has already become unbearable.

Developers have a role to play here, but so too do councils and central government. It should not be enough for funding to be vaguely earmarked for a building if there is no guarantee it will ever open its doors, or there be no staff to run it.

In fast‑growing areas, developers should be required not only to fund facilities, but to guarantee GP provision - whether through contracts or support for salaried doctors - while new communities are still taking shape.

There has never been a tougher time to be a patient or a GP. Long waits for appointments are now the norm, and morale across primary care is fragile. If we continue to build homes without building capacity in GP services, those pressures will only worsen.

Shropshire needs growth that is planned properly and delivered responsibly. We can meet our housing needs, but only if we are honest about the demands that growth brings.