Site for Shropshire garden city bought in £11 million deal

Outline planning permission has already been granted for the 460-property development at Doseley.

Now BDW Trading Limited, a subsidiary of Britain's biggest housebuilder Barratt Developments, has completed its purchase from Breedon Aggregates.

Homes will be built on the site and sold in the name of one of Barratt's subsidiaries, David Wilson Homes, which had already built the nearby properties at Falcon's Rest.

Since the original plans for Falcon's Rest emerged, the entire Doseley Works site, off St Luke's Road in Doseley, has become available after the concrete products plant was wound up by its former owners Ennstone, which is now Breedon.

In a statement to investors, Breedon said: "Breedon Aggregates, the UK's largest independent aggregates business, has completed the sale of a 60-acre site at Doseley, to BDW Trading Limited for £11 million.

"The land is on the site of a former concrete products plant and has outline planning consent for 460 homes, which will be built and marketed under the David Wilson Homes brand.

"Breedon will receive phased cash payments over four years commencing in 2014."

The outline planning application, which was approved in March, was in the name of David Wilson Homes, and the land is now set to transfer to the company.

The concrete plant, using basalt quarried in Doseley as aggregate, was opened in 1926 by Johnston Bros, before being reorganised to make concrete pipes using aggregates from Wrockwardine in 1989.

The plans for the site met with resistance from some local residents, who were concerned that developers included just one access road into the site.

David Wilson Homes says it intends to create a 'garden city' development with emphasis on green spaces.

It says the site is brownfield land and therefore suitable for development.