Telford housebuilder wants to remove financial contribution to education so it can still build roundabout at 'dangerous' junction
A housing developer has asked to change a financial agreement so they can build a roundabout at a ‘dangerous’ Shropshire junction.
Shropshire Homes says its financial agreement for the Crudgington housing development is no longer viable and wants to remove a financial contribution towards education.
Plans were approved in November last year for 55 homes to be built on the former Dairy Crest site – stage three of the development.
This follows the approval of 111 homes after the Cathedral City cheese and Clover spread maker closed its factory on the adjacent site in 2015.
The 55-home development was approved to include a mixture of two, three, four and five bedrooms homes in the form of bungalows, detached and semi-detached properties.
Plans also included the building of a new roundabout at Crudington crossroads. Part of the approved proposal is a financial Section 106 agreement which includes £465,017 towards education provision and a monitoring fee of £9,300.
However, an application has been submitted to Telford & Wrekin Council to remove those financial contributions.
A statement submitted by Shropshire Homes says that in its assessment £1 million was included for the construction of a roundabout.
The housing developer says that since planning permission was granted a detailed assessment has priced the roundabout at £1.43m.
Shropshire Homes said: “Just the additional roundabout cost in isolation leads to an unacceptable loss of profit margin and together with the general cost increase the industry is experiencing along with the anticipated loss of revenue means that in order to attempt to maintain the viability of the scheme provided the public benefit of the construction of the roundabout it is requested that the S106 is varied to remove the Combined Education Contribution and Monitoring Contribution
“In addition to the further £431,360.75 costs, inflation remains high which will substantially increase the overall build costs and all the major commentators on the housing market are forecasting a reduction in house prices with a range being suggested between five to 10 per cent.”
Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning committee is set to consider the plans to remove the Section 106 agreement at their meeting next week.
A report submitted to the committee says that there is no affordable housing included in the development as money towards education was considered more important at the time of planning approval.
However, the council’s planning officer has now recommended the removal of the Section 106 agreement.
The planning officer concluded: “Enforcing the applicants to pay the full financial contributions set out at full planning stage would result in the profit margins being below the acceptable profit range and would jeopardise the delivery of the scheme including the roundabout.
“The provision of the roundabout is considered to be a significant benefit to the local area and the borough as a whole, and its delivery is a priority improvement for the local highway network.”
Waters Upton Parish Council said that they are ‘committed’ to the provision of the ‘much needed’ roundabout for the ‘dangerous junction’.
As part of the planning committee report councillor Steve Bentley, ward member for Ercall Magna, said that Shropshire Homes are awaiting legal agreements for roundabout work to start in September which would result in a completion date of June 2024.
