Councillors defer 30 homes plan over host of concerns
Councillors have deferred making a decision on a planning application for 31 homes after highways concerns were raised.
Telford & Wrekin councillors were considering the proposal for the homes off Hem Lane in Halesfield at their planning meeting on Wednesday night.
A council planning officer had recommended the homes for approval and said that there had been no technical objections raised.
However, Councillor Peter Scott said he felt that the houses were being proposed in the ‘wrong location’.
“Hem Lane is a single track which comes out onto two rather fast roads as well,” Cllr Scott said. “There is no bus service or any services of any description in the area, there’s no real identifying need for housing there.
“It’s the wrong application in the wrong place.”
Councillors were told that a highway contribution of £7,000 was proposed as part of the plan to reduce the speed limit from 60 miles per hour to 40mph with signage on Hem Lane.
Councillor Steve Bentley said he felt that Hem Lane should be made one-way due to the narrowness and a lack of passing places on the road.
He also suggested a weight restriction on vehicles of 3.5 tonnes.
The councillor said a travel plan for children to access nearby schools needed considering.
“Any children from this site are going to have to walk to that school,” said Cllr Bentley. “They’ve got to cross Halesfield 1 and the following junction at Halesfield.
“Then somehow or another they’ve got to cross Stirchley interchange. I think £7,000 for a highways contribution doesn’t work.”
Councillor Thomas Janke said that Halesfield 1 coming off the Eastern Primary was ‘like a racetrack’.
“Traffic needs to be slowed down dramatically before we can let people in and out of a housing estate on that road,” he added.
In response a council planning officer said that the visibility onto Hem Lane from the development was a condition being imposed.
The officer added that another condition was off-site highways work including a footway link down Hem Lane to the junction of Halesfield 1 and a ‘tactile crossing’ to the existing pedestrian facilities on Halesfield 1.
Road widening and traffic calming long Hem Lane was another condition and improvements to the junction of Hem Lane and Halesfield 1.
However, Cllr Bentley said his ‘biggest concern’ was how people would get across to Stirchley interchange.
A council officer said that there is currently work taking place on Stirchley interchange to support sustainable development with footways and crossings
“Maybe we should defer this until I’ve seen some of the work around Stirchley interchange actually there,” added Cllr Bentley. “At this present moment in time I can’t see how this is going to be facilitated.
“That interchange is very busy, very fast and extremely dangerous. Primary children have also got to get to their nearest school, which I believe is Brookside.”
A financial agreement of £693,000 for eight affordable homes to be built off-site is being proposed as part of the plans. Also included was a contribution of £88,000 towards secondary education and £40,000 for the enhancement/upgrade of off-site play and sports provision.
Councillor Scott added that while there was money toward an off-site play area there was no money towards the nearest doctor’s surgery.
“There are more people who will want to go to a surgery than want to go to a school,” said Cllr Scott. “We’re prepared to give them a lot of money towards schools and off-side play areas and yet there’s £41,000 there which would improve a surgery.
“Surgeries are not being considered with applications and we need to get a grip of this.”
A council officer said that they were talking to the appropriate people from the integrated care board.
Councillor Nigel Dugmore said that his ‘biggest concern’ was lack of affordable housing and he said previous applications had included affordable homes in ‘far more isolated locations’.
A vote was taken to defer the application for a month and a site visit planned by councillors.
