Call to put brakes put on 600 homes in Oswestry
Highways England wants the brakes put on a major housing development until it can see what effect the extra homes will have on a busy roundabout.
The government body has asked Shropshire Council to put off making its decision on a planning application for up to 600 homes on the edge of Oswestry for three months.
Officers for the agency said they wanted to work with the developers to find out more detailed information about traffic to and from the site which is on the eastern gateway into the town.
A planning application for 24 hectares of land between the bypass and Shrewsbury Road has been submitted to Shropshire Council by landowner J Ross Developments.
Catherine Brookes, divisional director of Highways England, says in a letter to the council that there are a number of highways issues that have not been resolved.
"These include the modelling of the A5 Mile End roundabout and its latest design and the modelling of the site access junction and any impact on the roundabout," she says.
She says in the letter that Highways England also wants to look at any impact on the A495 junction – which is the Oswestry to Whitchurch road.
"We recommend non-determination of the application for three months to allow the applicant time to provide the information necessary to ensure the Highways Agency that the proposed site access and development do not severely impact on the Strategic Roads Network," she added in the letter.
"We wish to express our willingness to work with the developer to form an acceptable solution."
The development is the largest housing proposal the town has had, and the plans suggest that the houses would be based around a central green with plenty of open space.
There would be pedestrian and vehicle links to the town centre and to the nearby leisure centre and industrial estate.
There are also plans to build a pedestrian bridge over the A5/A483 to connect with a proposed new Mile End business park on the other side of the bypass.
The land is part of the proposed sustainable urban development that sits within Shropshire Council's Samdev, the blueprint for future housebuilding in the county.
"Both housing and employment growth is vital to maintaining and developing Oswestry's position regionally," the J Ross Developments design statement says.
