Fears over 75 new homes in Wem

Wem Civic Society believes building the homes on land between Aston Road and Church Lane in the town would put pedestrians and cyclists using the area at risk.

The plans have already incensed residents in the area who believe that end of town does not have the infrastructure to support it.

Members of Wem Town Council agreed to oppose the plans at a packed meeting, when several residents voiced their anger at the plans.

In a letter presented to Wem Town Council before Thursday's meeting, Shelagh Richardson, chairman of Wem Civic Society, said the area was liable to flooding and that building the homes would bring more traffic to an already busy area.

She said: "This is recognised as an area liable to flooding.

"Church Lane is a country lane, single track in places and liable to flooding. It cannot cope with any additional traffic.

"A large number of pedestrians and cyclists currently use Church Lane. Additional traffic will persuade many, for safety reasons, to resort to car use, increasing the traffic load onto Soulton Road.

"Concern about additional traffic on Soulton Road and its impact on the level crossing at the end of Soulton Road has been expressed by a number of responsible bodies, including Wem Town Council and the Rail Inspectorate.

"The lack of facilities, e.g. educational, medical at this edge of town, means that residents will need access to town frequently, which will mean using the railway crossing, generating more traffic across this difficult crossing."

Geoff Sole, who lives on Aston Road, said: "I am incensed about this application. It is totally out of place for Wem.

"It is a very large development in the wrong end of town. The infrastructure at that end of town cannot support it.

"Surface water does not drain from this site."

Chris Mellings, Shropshire councillor for Wem, said: "We likewise share the concerns raised by local residents."

He added the town's schools and doctor's surgery were already under a lot of pressure.

An outline application for the scheme has been submitted to Shropshire Council.

The agent, Berrys, has suggested that some money allocated to the development could be used to improve signage and road markings around the town's level crossing to reduce the impact of the homes.

The town's level crossing, on Aston Street, has created tailback traffic to wait for as much as 20 minutes on a number of occasions when faults caused the barriers to shut.

Previous figures from Network Rail indicated Wem level crossing was the sixth most abused in the country, and many people believe that the application could make the problems worse.