Shropshire villagers vow to stop homes plan

The fate of two planning applications will be decided at a meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council's planning committee on Wednesday – and officers have recommended councillors grant permission, despite receiving 250 letters of objection and 400 signatures on a petition against development.

The outline applications are for Church Road in Lilleshall. One proposes up to seven homes and two bungalows, while the second site is earmarked for 12 homes and three bungalows.

But members of the Save Lilleshall Village group have said the plans – for land opposite the Grade II listed St Michael's and All Angels Norman Church and its church yard, at Church Road – are too large and not suitable for their village.

Concerns have also been raised about extra traffic on the village's already narrow roads. A number of signs have been put up in the village calling for the applications to be stopped.

Councillor Andrew Eade, who will be speaking to against the application before the committee at its meeting in Wellington, said: "The highway through the village puts additional traffic on to a very narrow and busy road during the day, the site is also a green field site which is opposite the listed building – the church – and it starts to expand the boundary of the village and we lose the greenfields and the views from the church forever.

Lilleshall is a historical village with a character of its own, so these developments would be a disaster."

Meanwhile, Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard added: "These plans are deeply flawed and should be rejected."

Campaigners' hopes of success will have been raised by the failure of other similar plans near the site being thrown out at the end of last year. Wednesday's meeting is open to the public and will take place at 6pm at the Whitehouse Hotel, Wellington.