Plans for new park and housing in Shifnal approved

Concerns over flooding, or that the design of the park would encourage crime, were dismissed by councillors who voted to give the go-ahead to a basic layout for the site near Stone Drive, at a meeting of Shropshire Council's south planning committee yesterday.

Two applications to do with the site, which will host hundreds of houses by Taylor Wimpey and Gallagher Estates, were considered at the Shirehall meeting.

One was a detailed submission for the Taylor Wimpey part of the site, two parcels of land to contain 75 houses and half of the proposed park.

The other was for general layout and landscaping of the whole site, including the central five-acre (two hectare) park with trees, hedges and ponds, a "kick-about area" and a picnic area. The park will be surrounded by an estate loop road, with houses overlooking it.

Robert Owen, a nearby resident and former police officer, who had previously been involved in earlier attempts to plan for a town park at the site, raised some concerns, however.

He said the park would encourage crime with "a number of inpenetrable thickets in which young people can congregate without being seen" and suggested they be removed along with hedgerows for a more open space. But councillors did not agree.

Councillor Andy Boddington, for Ludlow North, said he lived near similar public land in Ludlow "which is used in exactly the way you say it is and is entirely safe – and we wouldn't want it any other way."

Councillor Robert Tindall, for Brown Clee, said: "I don't think you can design out any danger to children, or stop children causing a danger to each other. I think your suggestions are over-prescriptive."

Councillor Madge Shineton, for Cleobury Mortimer, agreed, adding: "What I don't want to do is deprive children and young people of the chance to understand and work with nature."

Bob Haddon, chairman of Shifnal Flood Partnership Group, raised concerns over drainage, saying there had already been two "serious" flash flooding incidents in the area of this and adjacent new development sites in March and April, and plans to lessen water run-off were "proving to be ineffective in the construction phase".

He called for drainage measures to be in place before housebuilding started.

However, David Edwards, Shropshire Council's flood and water manager, said flooding of gardens around nearby Silvermere was an existing problem due to be dealt with by work in September, unrelated to the new developments.

Andy Williams, of Advanced Planning, acting as agent for the developers, said he himself lived next to it and shared "concerns and aspirations" for the area.

"We want this scheme to work and work well," he said.