Shropshire village residents sign petition against plan for 360 homes
People living by country roads in a Shropshire village say plans for hundreds of new homes will make their lives intolerable.
But the Shrewsbury-based consortium behind the scheme for Bicton near Shrewsbury say they want to bring something special to the area.
Proposals for 360 homes south of the Holyhead Road in the village have been put forward by Les Stephan Planning Ltd, which hosted a consultation at the Four Crosses pub in Bicton.
More than 200 residents have signed a petition opposing the housing scheme.
Many said Bicton was in danger of being overwhelmed by the new housing.
Mrs Jill Downes, who attended Wednesday's consultation, said she had spent years trying to get planning permission for a house on a former builder's yard at the rear of her home.
She said she had only just been given the go-ahead to build an affordable home for her daughter, who she said both lives and works in Bicton.
"We were told that the roads were too narrow, there were not enough street lights and other reasons," she said.
"Surely all those reasons are still there and should be now used for these new proposals? We have spent two years and jumped through hoops to be able to build an affordable home with so many conditions attached to it."
Julie Downes, another resident, said: "Calcott Lane is very busy as it is and is used as a short cut to the by-pass. More houses will make the problems worse. My car was bumped in the lane the other day. What if it had been a pedestrian?"
Another villager, Dave Kilby, said he was disappointed that residents had been denied the chance to put together a neighbourhood plan to set out development – something that was first mooted in 2012."
One of the businessmen, Martin Parrish said: "We have the opportunity to bring an exciting development to this area, something really interesting. We are planning cycle routes, walkways, open space and a pond and we would like local people to be involved in influencing the plans."
