Shifnal: A special town 'under threat'

It has a wealth of independent shops, a handful of pubs and restaurants, a railway station, junctions to the M54, good access to Telford, Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth and Wolverhampton and a monthly farmers' market.

But it is feared that the way of life in Shifnal is under threat from new developments threatening to swamp the town.

Most local people sigh at the mention of new housing.

"It is a terrible thing," says Phil Smith, who lives in Broadway and enjoys a regular cup of tea in the Village Cafe.

"I'd like to see more Shifnal people able to buy houses here and having their own businesses here, but all this is under threat."

Shifnal recently made it onto a prestigious report that lists the 10 most desirable market towns in the country.

House prices in Shifnal have risen 20 per cent in the last five years. The average price last year was just under £250,000, according to today's figures. That put it in ninth place in the survey, ahead of towns like Bakewell in Derbyshire, Chichester in West Sussex and Lewes in East Sussex.

The town, which has a population of nearly 7,000, is the only place in Shropshire that makes the top of the list released by Knight Frank estate agency.

But under the most recent SamDev draft for Shifnal, the town was earmarked for 1,600 more homes by 2026, and the plans could see its population grow by up to 60 per cent.

It is not alone. Towns across Shropshire are also coming to terms with the fact they are to change for ever.

New housing brings economic benefits, but at what cost to community and being part of a neighbourhood where everyone knows each other's business?

In recent months, plans have been approved for 200 homes in Coppice Green Lane, near Idsall School, 400 homes in Haughton Road and 115 homes on the Springhill Industrial Estate in Aston Street, in the centre of the town, and a patch of nearby grassland. There is also a major development under way on the Wolverhampton Road, with almost 200 homes already built by Taylor Wimpey and plans to extend the development in the pipeline.

Shifnal Town Council and residents are strongly against the proposals.

They deny simply being nimbies. They fear a fundamental change in what makes Shifnal Shifnal. The town is popular because it is of a manageable size. Now, they claim, growth is likely to change its nature beyond recognition.

Jan Thackeray, who runs Shifnal's Trade In Post in the busy Victoria Road with her husband John, said the amount of housing will exacerbate the town's existing traffic problems.

She said: "I feel that 1,600 homes is too many. Originally there were 800 in the original SamDev, which was fine. We were happy to have that. We know we have to have new houses.

"But it will change the character of Shifnal, it has always been very friendly, very community-led but now we're in danger of becoming a commuter town.

"Traffic is the main problem, and the infrastructure. The schools are already full. I don't know how we will be able to cope.

"There is an opposite view. I can speak as a resident and as a trader so I know there are two sides to it. New people coming to Shifnal has got to be good for traders and will keep Shifnal fresh. You hear so many stories of small towns where there are shops are shutting, banks are shutting post offices are shutting.

"But we want a happy medium. The suggested1,600 homes is too many. Just think how many more cars that will be on the road."

Just down the road in Market Place is Blue Florists, run by Jan Park. She said: "I think that the general impact is that it will obviously make Shifnal bigger, which is not a bad thing, particularly from the position of the businesses and the shops.

"But the biggest concern is that they don't seem to have thought about the traffic.

"I think the aspects of putting houses on green field sites is not acceptable."

Despite her concerns about the impact new development will have on traffic, Jan feels that Shifnal will be able to keep the features that make it special.

She said: "We already see a lot of new people coming from the Thomas Beddoes development in Wolverhampton Road, and a lot of them are using Shifnal's shops and embracing the shop local idea.

"Lots of people come here and say they absolutely love Shifnal, they love shopping here, they use Shifnal's pubs and that's good."

Jan is also head of the town's business forum. She said: "We've had new people join the business forum, people who have moved into the town and brought their business with them, we've had someone in PR, a holistic practitioner.

"And the feedback from people on the forum about the development has been as mixed as anywhere else. A lot do see it as positive but they have to be mindful of the parking and the traffic flow."

Just across the road from Jan is Adam Cawley, at Woods Dry Cleaners.

He's had his business in Shifnal for more than seven years and also lives in the town.

He said: "I live and work in Shifnal so it is a massive opportunity for businesses but we also have to make sure, as someone who loves in the town, that if this is going to happen, we have to make the most of what's being developed.

"They're doing traffic surveys to see how the town will cope, when really they should have done that first, before putting the town forward for all this development. It is sort of being done backward, I think as residents we need to put as much pressure on Shropshire Council as we can to deliver the infrastructure around us.

"It will make the town busier, undoubtedly which is good for Shifnal, we're proud that we have lots of independent shops. The one thing we don't want is a supermarket, because we advertise ourselves as a supermarket.

"We've got a butcher, a baker, you can buy clothes so we've got everything we need, we already are a supermarket."

How other areas are affected

And Mr Cawley thinks that the community in Shifnal will last, no matter how much development there is.

He said:"Shifnal will always keep its community feel, it is too strong, as long as there are clubs and places to go, you've got a community."

He also agrees that traffic will be one of the biggest problems. He said:

"Parking is an issue. The problem is that too many people drive to school and work."

Resident Caroline Rolling added: "Shifnal is a small market town which, though grown over the years, still has a village feel. It is why many of us who have moved in to Shifnal chose to live here and why so many of us stay."

But she added: "I, too, am very concerned that there will not be adequate in infrastructure and facilities to meet the needs of a huge increase in people living here."

Patricia Mitchell, who lives on Silvermere Park, was in Shifnal Shopping Centre and stopped to speak about her feelings on the development. She said: "The question is, how will we cope? We already have problems with drainage in Shifnal, particularly near where I live. The Mere is a very big issue. The doctor's surgery can't cope as it is."

Peter Hassall, who lives in Park Street, has made his own suggestions of how the town could be developed to deal with the future traffic problems, including pedestrianising the town centre at Broadway, creating car parking and building a new medical centre in the centre of the town.

He said: "Why don't they take the opportunity to develop brownfield land in Shifnal and Telford?"

Last August, town councillors delivered a Shropshire Council questionnaire to homes which showed 91.7 per cent of responders were against the level of development.

And in December more than 20 residents held a peaceful protest outside a meeting of Shifnal Town Council when planning officers were due to attend. Shifnal Town Council has previously said that the town would resemble a "building site" if all the proposed development gets the go-ahead.

Shifnal does suffer from localised flooding issues and people also claim the town's doctor's surgery is already full to bursting.

On Facebook, many residents posted comments about their feelings.

Shifnal mother, Natalie Mitchell, said: "My 21-month-old daughter can't get into the doctors. They won't even give a telephone consultation as they're too busy. I was told to go to the walk-in centre."

Shifnal already has some traffic problems, particularly at the junction of Aston Street and Broadway.

At the end of last week, plans were put forward by Shropshire Council which could improve the situation, which involved making the town centre one way and putting traffic lights put at Five-Ways roundabout.

People living in Shifnal realise they have a fight on their hands if they are to maintain the status quo in their town.

But many realise that they should be resigned to a larger Shifnal, economically stronger but no longer the small town as they know it.