People will be 'horrified' by scale of proposed Telford housing developments - Tory councillor

The Telford and Wrekin updated Local Plan will go out for consultation next week, and it includes three areas of ‘sustainable urban expansion’.

A site near Shawbirch has been earmarked for 2,100 homes and a further 3,700 properties off the A442 at Wheat Leasowes.

A third ‘sustainable urban expansion’ site being consulted contains 2,700 homes east of Muxton.

The housing proposals form part of an updated Local Plan, which outlines potential plots of land across the borough as the council looks to meet a target of building an extra 8,800 homes by 2040 – equivalent to 441 homes per year.

Speaking at Thursday's meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council's cabinet, Councillor Andrew Eade, Conservative leader on the authority, said "people will be horrified" by the number of homes proposed, while services like doctors are already under pressure.

“When we look at the proposed potential development sites we see that the urban-rural boundary will almost certainly be breached,” said Councillor Eade. “This is an absolute disaster.

“Not only will certain resources be sterilised under such a development, once again this authority is looking to gobble up agricultural greenfield sites.

“In short this draft plan is a charter to wreck the countryside, which makes up about two-thirds of our borough, which will be plundered and diminished.

“I see no protection in our local communities and that’s something so important, that sense of identity and belonging.

“Historical boundaries and settlements which form communities should be protected, especially when other brownfield sites at the moment remain available.

“Flooding such settlements with hundreds of houses has led to fundamental changes in this borough and this plan does nothing at all to provide further protection, but intends to accelerate that process.

“I think this draft plan is a disaster waiting to happen to this borough. I think it’s unsupportable and parts that are proposed are unsustainable and I would urge you to have a major re-think around the draft plan before it goes out to consultation.”

Councillor Bill Tomlinson, Liberal Democrat group leader, raised concerns about the sustainability of the developments and the borough’s road infrastructure.

“One of my major concerns is the road networks which supply those dwellings,” said Councillor Tomlinson.

“Most people who live in Telford don’t all necessarily work in Telford, and those need to get to where they need to work.

“As much as we’d love them to use the bus in that particular neck of the woods, at the moment, there aren’t any buses virtually, very few.

“We’re trying to plan for a very sizeable development which is on the scale of the size of Wellington and it’s only just a bit smaller than Lawley.

“My concern is with the road network around the Shawbirch island and getting to the M54 along the A5223, Princess Royal island and Trench Lock island.”

Richard Overton, deputy council leader and cabinet member for homes, stressed that it is a consultation and that the council had to produce the plan due to government legislation.

“We have to do what’s best for our borough to meet those needs,” he said.

“The 8,800 homes is across the borough and it’s not just those three sustainable urban extensions. There is more land put in the plan so that we can listen to people and take some of that out.

“We have to make sure that it’s a robust plan that goes to the planning inspector. There will be lots of ways that people can feed in, it’s a plan for the future and we want to do it in the best way possible for our residents' needs and future needs for our borough.”

The consultation for the draft Local Plan will begin on Wednesday, October 25, and last for 11 weeks.

To sign up for the latest news about the draft Local Plan consultation, go to telfordandwrekinlocalplan.co.uk.