New 'pitch n putt' Shrewsbury retail park gets go ahead - but new access road must be built first council says
A new retail park will be built in Shrewsbury, but only after a proposed access road is built, council planners have decided.
The new retail park, set to be built on the site of Shrewsbury's former pitch and putt golf course near Meole Brace, is set to include new shops, a gym, drive-through coffee shops and restaurants, and a residential care home.
Planning permission was granted almost two years ago for the scheme between Hazeldine Way and Oteley Road, having first been proposed in 2019.
But building work has yet to begin on the former Shropshire Council site - with developers putting forward a scaled-back scheme in December last year which would see the shopping complex reduced from two floors to one, and around 15 bedrooms reduced from the overall size of the care home element of the proposals.
The smaller development has now been given the green light by Shropshire Council, but on the condition that potential traffic issues around the busy Meole Brace site are adressed early on by developers.
During a meeting of the council's planning committee, Oteley and Reabrook councillor Vicky Moore said that "long queues of traffic" plagued the site during rush hour, with football traffic also stretching along Oteley Road on Shrewsbury Town matchdays.
In response, Tracy Spencer, acting as agent for developers Cordwell Properties said the scheme was of "a similar but lesser scale" which would will result in a reduced impact compared to the previously approved plans.
Members of Shropshire Council's north planning committee decided to err on the side of caution, adding a condition to the development that would see an access road built onto Hazeldine Way before the retail element of the site could open.
"The proposed modifications to the approved layout and design of the mixed use development which includes retail units, a gym, and a care home would include a reduction in the size of the care home and the provision of a single-storey retail unit instead of a two-storey one; along with other site layout alterations," said a report from Shropshire Council's planning officers.
"The proposals do not raise any significant additional planning issues, and officers consider that the proposed changes to the approved plans are acceptable in relation to Development Plan and national planning policy."
The developer says other "relatively minor" changes would be made to the overall layout, including a redesign of the pedestrian and cyclist entrances to the site, to improve accessibility.
The scheme was approved by by Shropshire Council's Northern Planning Committee on Tuesday, June 17.
