Affordable housing scheme for land in Telford is withdrawn over wildlife concerns

Keon Homes submitted plans last year for 30 ‘affordable’ homes to be built on land off Baptist Avenue in Malinslee.

Over half of the proposed development would comprise three-bedroom homes. Plans also included one-bedroom bungalows along with two- and four-bedroom properties. There were 56 car parking spaces proposed in the development.

“The site is located in a highly residential area with shops and schools,” said the application.

New developments have been recently completed around the site. There is a commercial area nearby with a shopping centre and larger retail.”

The proposal received nine letters of objection including from the council’s ecology department.

A biodiversity report with the application said that the site covers 0.78 hectares (ha) of land on which 0.43ha is deciduous woodland and 0.29ha is woodland and forest. The remaining is grass-land.

Red Kite Network submitted a biodiversity net gain feasibility report alongside the plan which concluded that the development would result in a net loss of -62.84 per cent in habitat units.

It said that ‘until recently’, the majority of the site comprised of secondary woodland, which had succeeded an area which once contained a hard surface car park and workshop buildings.

“There is a predicted overall loss of biodiversity,” said the biodiversity report. “It is therefore recommended that an off-site solution for biodiversity net gain should be determined.

“This can be achieved by either incorporating additional land in proximity to the development or entering an offsetting scheme with a suitable organisation such as Telford & Wrekin Council.”

Red Kite Network said that each of the new properties would have a rear garden, comprising of flowering lawns. Trees and hedgerows were also proposed to be planted along with publicly accessible amenity grassland.

“The current plan suggests another line of trees on the southern boundary will be retained,” the report said.

“Woodland planting blocks will be established around the site, predominantly in the south and east of the site. This will connect to both the existing woodland to the south of the site and to the green corridors that are present throughout Telford.”

However, the council’s ecology department objected to the plans, stating that the net loss of 62.84 per cent in habitat units was ‘significant’ and did not satisfy its policy of ‘at least’ no net loss of biodiversity.

“This scale of biodiversity loss is on the whole unacceptable, especially where no compensation has been detailed,” said the council’s ecology officer.

“Avoiding loss through careful site selection is the highest priority, followed by mitigation through effective on-site design, and compensation off-site should be used as a last resort.”

The ecology officer added that an area of the site is classified as ‘priority habitat woodland’.

They said that historical aerial imagery showed that the site has been cleared since 2020.

“The baseline value should have reflected the habitats and conditions present on site as of January 2020, as was detailed in the first metric,” the objection added.

“This would result in an increase of biodiversity value at the baseline assessment stage, pushing the already high 62.84 per cent loss even higher.

“This loss of priority habitat is concerning, and the avoidance of further damage to this area should be a focus, but this has still not been demonstrated through this application. The nature of the development and the associated biodiversity loss suggests that this is not an appropriate site for this type and scale of development.”

The ecology objection added that around 75 per cent of this site is designated under Telford & Wrekin Council Green Network designation.

“The significant biodiversity loss would be a blow to local wildlife and green infrastructure networks through Telford,” they added.

Due to the ecology objection Keon Homes has withdraw the planning application.