Watch: Villagers gather in rain to protest plans to build 800 'necessary' homes
Villagers have staged a protest outside a community hall where a developer is consulting with residents on plans to build 800 homes in the parish.
Boningale Homes wants to build a housing between Newhouse Lane, Holyhead Road and Cross Road in Albrighton, that will also include a new secondary school and a care home.
The proposal will see nearly the entire housing estate built on what is currently green belt.
Boningale Homes has said the proposals were “in the early stages” and they were seeking “valuable input from the community”.
They have said their plans, which are yet to go before planners at Shropshire Council, are “necessary” if the county is to meet its housing needs and those of the neighbouring Black Country.
The consultation at the Red House in Albrighton on Thursday was the second held in the village since the proposals were announced earlier this month.
Residents have since started a petition and gathered 2,000 signatures, and formed the Albrighton Village Action Group (AVAG).
They say the new homes will threaten Albrighton's status as a village and “will destroy our beautiful landscape”.
They also have Mark Pritchard, Conservative MP for The Wrekin, on their side who has said he would object to any planning application put forward “in the strongest possible terms”.
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