More than 180 new homes planned for Telford and Newport

Telford & Wrekin Council intends to build 92 homes in Matlock Avenue, Dawley, and a further 24 in Hadley centre.

A planning application has been submitted for the site in Dawley, and another application is planned for the Hadley development.

A further 31 affordable homes are planned near Burton Borough School in Springfields, Newport, and plans to create 153 apartments at Southwater have been scaled back to about 50 homes.

The plans are the latest in the growth of housing in Telford & Wrekin as part of a £50 million investment through its council-owned company NuPlace, which manages property and acts as a private landlord.

The council started building about 130 homes in Madeley and Randlay last summer, 101 of them on the site of the former Woodlands Primary School in Madeley.

It had then planned to add to it with new homes in Wildwood at Woodside and Deercote at Hollinswood, but these have been scrapped after a review by officers, with the new site at Hadley added instead.

The latest developments were outlined at a Telford & Wrekin Council cabinet meeting.

Councillor Shaun Davies said: "I think we can all agree that this is a legacy for the council, it is income generating and will increase social benefit to residents."

Councillor Liz Clare said she was pleased to see the council investing in such an "innovative" scheme and the meeting heard that the council has been approached by other councils from across the country who are looking to invest in a similar scheme.

Councillor Paul Watling said he hoped that the council acting as a landlord would drive up the standards of private landlords in the borough.

Conservative Councillor Andrew Eade said he was disappointed to see a former industrial site had been chosen for the homes in Newport instead of an alternative site in Water Lane.

He was told that the site was chosen because it was council-owned and because it was unlikely to attract the interest of private developers.