Controversial plans for homes in village near Telford earmarked for approval

The controversial outline application for homes next to Tibberton Motor Repairs, in Mill Lane, Tibberton, near Newport, could be given the go ahead.

Officers will tell members of Telford & Wrekin Council's planning committee at a meeting on Wednesday next week that the scheme should be allowed.

It would see a mix of houses on 1.18ha of land, comprising eight two bedroom houses and 14 four or five bedroom homes, which developers say will be built just outside an area identified as a flood zone. A pumping station is also part of the proposals.

But despite getting the backing of planners, the bid has received complaints from residents and Tibberton and Cherrington Parish Councillors want it to be thrown out.

Councillors said Tibberton was a small settlement with limited services and the density of the development would be out of character with the village. They said the homes would present safety risks for on the area's roads and footpaths and that the nearby listed bridge over teh River Meese may not be able to handle an increased volume of traffic.

Telford & Wrekin planners have also received 19 objections from local residents, who said the plans would result in an "unacceptable expansion of the village with no jobs".

Others said Tibberton Primary School and other nearby schools were full or oversubscribed and the proposed land posed a contamination risk as the site was originally used as a mill producing paper from used rags.

It comes just weeks after an appeal was launched by developers against the refusal of a fiercely opposed plan for 60 houses in the village.

That plan is for homes to be built on land next to 12 Tibberton and would see the size of the village increased by 30 per cent.

The council will defend its refusal at the appeal in front of a planning inspector, saying that the size and scale of the development would be disproportionate to the rest of the village.

But in recommending approval for the latest application for 22 homes, planning officer Vincent Maher said the previously developed land was not next to a listed building and the proposed scheme was much smaller than the previous rejected proposal.

As part of granting approval in principle, officers have asked for a £115,146 contribution from applicants Seabridge Developments towards primary and secondary education as part of a Section 106 agreement.

The meeting takes place at 5pm next Wednesday at the Whitehouse Hotel, Wellington.