Council urged to rethink development plans for village
Fears have been voiced that new housing targets for a North Shropshire village are inappropriate following the closure of its shop and bowling green.
Clive Parish Council issued a plea to Shropshire Council’s cabinet for the village not be classified a ‘community hub’ in the authority’s new local plan.
Unlike its previous designation as open countryside, hub status comes with the expectation of housing growth.
Under the draft plan, Clive is to deliver 30 new homes by 2038, of which 20 will be on an allocated site at Flemley Park Farm.
But the parish council and unitary councillor Simon Jones argued the recent loss of facilities meant it could no longer be deemed a sustainable location for development.
As part of the local plan review, towns and villages across the county were subject to a ‘settlement hierarchy assessment’, which awarded points based on public transport, job opportunities, community facilities and infrastructure.
The number of existing properties was also taken into account.
Clive accumulated 54 points under the scoring system, out of the maximum of 116. But if four points were deducted for the closure of the convenience store, and three for the sports facility, it would fall below the community hub threshold of 48.
A public question from parish council clerk Lydia Bardsley to cabinet said: “The bowling green listed was in a privately-owned garden that is no longer open to the public since a change in ownership two years ago.
“The village shop was in a privately-owned building and after the tenant surrendered the tenancy in October 2020 the premises will no longer be let as a shop, and will revert to private use by the owner.”
Ms Bardsley said the score should not be based on “historic” and “inaccurate” information, and raised concerns that the council’s methodology was not being applied consistently.
Councillor Simon Jones echoed the parish council’s points, saying: “These two things should reduce the scoring to below community hub status.”
Councillor Robert Macey, portfolio holder for housing and strategic planning, said the closures had happened too recently to be considered in the points appraisal, but added that there was still time for Clive to be removed from the list of hubs by the government-appointed inspector who will examine the plan before it is adopted by the council in 2022.
Councillor Macey said: “With regard to the bowling green, whilst it is recognised there is no active club currently using this space, this facility remains included within the council’s published open space needs assessment.
“To this end, officers feel it continues to be appropriate to include this facility in the assessment.
“With regard to the convenience store, whilst officers have received recent correspondence from the owner that he is not seeking to re-let following the recent departure of his tenant in October 2020, this has only very recently become the case, and indeed he has also confirmed that until October he was actively seeking to let the facility.
“Without further evidence of marketing more widely or suitable assurances about the potential future uses for the facility, on the balance of judgement it is felt it would therefore be premature to delete this facility from the assessment.”
Cabinet approved the latest draft of the plan to go out to a seven-week public consultation, starting on December 16.
Villagers elsewhere in the county have also objected to new community hub designations, included residents of Trefonen and Cressage. Trefonen was one of four settlements to achieve the minimum 48 points for the classification, while Cressage scored 50.
The assessment labelled Shrewsbury the ‘strategic centre’, scoring the maximum 116 points, and 16 other towns and large villages as either ‘principal centres’ or ‘key centres’. A further 42 settlements were named ‘community hubs’. The rest will continue to be classed as open countryside unless they choose to ‘opt in’.
