Draft plan for 750 homes in Shrewsbury approved
A controversial draft masterplan to build 750 homes in western Shrewsbury and make road improvements which could pave the way for the £100 million North West Relief Road (NWWR) has been given the go-ahead.
Councillors voted through the Shrewsbury West Sustainable Extension Masterplan, which is intended to be used as a guideline for developers, at Shirehall yesterday.
The meeting was told submissions from developers to building major new housing developments in the area are now "imminent", with the 750 target due to be met within 10 to 15 years.
The document also paves the way for the creation of up to 29 acres of land for employment and a new Oxon Link Road between the A5 bypass and the Holyhead Road.
The road has been designed as a way of reducing traffic along the Welshpool Road, while it could also act as a leg of a possible future NWWR.
A proposed NWWR was dropped in 2011 due to a lack of cash, but the idea remains an aspiration from the council - despite opposition from the likes of the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth.
It would create a four-mile bypass from Churncote roundabout west of Shrewsbury to the roundabout on Ellesmere Road.
A Government grant of £100 million, combined with £10 million of cash from another source, would be required to get the scheme off the ground.
Councillor Mal Price, portfolio holder for planning, said while funding for the NWWR is not available at the moment, it may become so in future.
He said the creation of the Oxon link could help support the ambition to build the larger bypass.
Concerns were raised by members of Shrewsbury West Residents Association that the masterplan is "unsustainable" because it does not make any provision for a new secondary school on the western side of town.
Councillor Andrew Bannerman agreed this issue should be taken into consideration.
He said: "Unless we want to encourage people to get into their cars and travel right across the town to another school, we need to consider very carefully what our educational resources are in this particular area."
