Council gets £175,000 to fast-track new Telford homes
£175,000 has been handed over by the Government to fast-track three big housing developments in Telford – including building homes on the site of a former school.
The former Phoenix School site in Dawley, land next to Thomas Telford School and a site next to Granville Country Park in Donnington Wood are the three schemes that have been earmarked to benefit from the cash.
They would see hundreds of homes built, although exact numbers have not yet been specified. Bosses at Telford & Wrekin Council say the money will ease the pressure to build on green land and beauty spots.
The council is one of only nine local authorities that have made successful bids to the Local Development Order Incentive Fund, a central government pot which aims to help local authorities unlock brownfield sites for residential development, normally for developments of 100 homes or more.
The £175,703 funding award will support the investigative work and preparation of each site to a stage where it could get outline planning permission.
Telford & Wrekin Council identified the three key sites in its funding bid.
The authority plans to use the cash to deliver a number of housing development proposals for consultation.
Council chiefs are currently undertaking site assessments to support the master planning of these three sites before consultation events are staged at the beginning of October.
Councillor Richard Overton, deputy leader and cabinet member for housing at Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "We are doing our utmost to support the development of these brownfield sites because doing that will release the pressure on greenfield land.
"We have therefore taken advantage of this Government initiative in order to make these sites more attractive for developers to submit applications.
"By using local development orders to simplify the planning process in respect of brownfield sites, certain developments can take place without the need for a planning application."
Councillor Overton said Telford & Wrekin Council was to consult residents on the number of homes and other facilities they felt should be built on the three brownfield sites for which it has secured funding to make ready for development.
Opportunities for residents to be involved in planned consultation events will be promoted over the coming weeks.
The three sites were included as potential sites for housing development in the recently published Telford & Wrekin Council Local Plan.
It lays out plans to build 3,500 homes and create more than 25,000 jobs over the next 16 years.
Sites such as The Wrekin Forest, Weald Moors and Lilleshall Gap will be protected from developers, while "green guarantees" will be created to protect parks, woodlands, recreation areas and local nature reserves.
