Details on 39-home development at Whittington
Another 39 houses are set to be built next to a village school under proposals submitted to Shropshire Council.
Construction of 34 houses on a site near Whittington Primary School is already underway after the first phase of the scheme was signed off by planners last year.
The same developer, Shingler Homes Ltd, has now put forward its plans for phases two and three, which will include providing open space for the school along with a new 16-space car park for staff and visitors, who currently have to share a parking area with the community centre.
The land is allocated for housing in Shropshire Council’s Site Allocations and Management of Development (SAMDev) Plan and the developer said it represents a “logical extension to the village envelope”.
A planning statement prepared by planning consultant Nigel Thorns, agent to Shingler Homes, said the current application includes more larger homes as these were shown to be in higher demand when the properties in phase one were marketed.
Phase one comprises seven two-bed terraced houses, 15 three-beds, and 12 four-bed detached properties.
The planning statement said: “The two and three-bedroom homes sold slowly and needed discounts to push through the sales. The four-bed homes sold quickly with demand far exceeding supply.
“Therefore the scheme includes the following housing mix to respond to the local need evident in the previous nine months.”
The current application for 39 houses is made up of three two-beds, 14 three-beds and 22 four-beds.
Four of the houses will be “affordable homes”.
Shortfalls
The development will be accessed via the new turning off the B5009 created during phase one. No access is proposed onto Station Road in order to avoid creating a “rat-run”.
The statement said the application is therefore preferable to a rival application for the site submitted in 2018 by Berrys, which did include an access onto Station Road. That application is still yet to be determined.
A new pedestrian footpath will also be created, linking the three phases to the village centre.
The developer will also make a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) contribution of over £490,000 towards local and county-wide projects.
A total of 3,828 square metres of open space is included in the development, which is slightly less than the area required under the council’s planning policies.
The statement added: “It is accepted that there are shortfalls in the scheme including the 251sqm shortfall in open space across the site.
“However this scheme brings significant positive benefits to the wider village.”
The application will be decided by Shropshire Council.
