Green light for more than 100 homes on outskirts of Shrewsbury

Shropshire Council's northern planning committee gave the green light to proposals for 106 houses on land at Bicton Heath.

The Anwyl Homes development will be on land next to the A458 Welshpool Road and Gains Park Way.

The committee voted unanimously in favour of the project, although concerns were raised about road safety and financial contributions.

Councillor Alex Wagner, whose Bowbrook ward borders the Bicton area, said the main concern residents had raised was the speed of traffic along the 40mph Gains Park Way. He wants a review to drop the speed limit down to 30mph.

He also said his constituents would be "fairly appalled" about a pledge from the developer to make a financial contribution towards the controversial Shrewsbury North West Relief Road.

Mike Isherwood, Green councillor for Oswestry West, said he would like some of the relief road money to be used for active travel solutions.

However, Councillor Steve Davenport, the council's former cabinet member for highways, said he thinks the road project "is wonderful". He said he would have liked there to have been bungalows included in the development considering "in Shropshire, we do have a lot of retired people".

The development will include 21 affordable homes – comprising eight one-bed, eight two-bed, and five three-bed homes.

The rest of the development will be made up of 10 two-bed, 34 three-bed, and 41 four-bed homes.

Shropshire Council planning officer Phillip Mullineaux's recommendation stated: "Shropshire Council Highways and National Highways raise no objections on highway grounds.

"Concerns by the parish council and member of the public in relation to drainage, highway matters and sustainability issues have been noted, however all matters considered to be adequately addressed within the spirit of current local planning policies relevant to the application."