'We have serious concerns' - Inspectors deliver major blow to Shropshire Council over 'unsound' local plan

The Local Plan is one of the council's most important policies and sets out locations across the authority's area where housing and commercial developments are recommended to take place up until 2038.

The proposed plan is made up of a combined 31,300 homes to be built over that timeframe, along with 320 hectares of employment land.

In their latest letter the inspectors have given the council until the end of this month to set out how it can fix the issues they have highlighted within six months - or they will ask the authority to withdraw the proposal.

Such an outcome would have major implications for the council and planned development within the county.

In their letter the inspectors highlight what they see as a number of failings of the plan - including the longstanding problems over how the council provides 1,500 homes for the Black Country.

The have also pointed to the council's reliance on 'windfall sites' to meet the overall allocation.

Windfall sites are those not contained in the plan which then materialise and are counted towards targets.

In a section which will cause huge concerns for the council, the letter states: "We now ask the council to provide a project plan to address the shortcomings we have identified.

"This should include a detailed work programme and realistic timings for all the work necessary to rectify the soundness issues we have identified above.

"It should outline all of the steps that the council will need to take and illustrate how these matters can be rectified within a six-month timeframe.

"Should this not be possible, we would need to consider our position with the likely outcome being the recommendation of the withdrawal of the plan."

They have asked for a response by January 31.

One of the central issues in the council's plan has been its offer to provide 1,500 homes for Black Country councils - and how those homes were provided.

Inspectors had previously suggested the council had incorporated that figure into its own requirement, rather than adding it on top - which would have created a plan requiring 32,300 homes instead of 31,300.

It says the current approach means Shropshire Council is not providing enough housing to meet its own needs.

After being questioned on the issue the council identified three sites which it said would provide the 1,500 Black Country homes - 600 at the Tasley Garden Village at Bridgnorth, 300 on land between Mytton Oak Road and Hanwood Road in Shrewsbury, and 600 at the former Ironbridge Power Station.

But the inspectors have now highlighted the issue as a major concern - saying the sites are required to meet the council's own Shropshire target.

They said: "It has become increasingly apparent through the course of the examination that when agreeing to take some of the unmet needs of the Black Country between the Regulation 18 and Regulation 19 stages of the preparation of the plan, the council did so on the basis that no additional sites would be necessary.

"This approach has led to a series of consequential and fundamental interrelated problems with the plan."

It adds: "The evidence underpinning the plan, in particular the housing requirement and supply, seems to have constantly shifted over time which has caused great confusion and makes it difficult to follow.

"Whichever lens it is viewed through, the council is still opting for a high growth option, but the Shropshire requirement has been reduced by 1,000 homes and the sites re-purposed to meet the Black Country needs.

"Even based on the council’s latest work, the overall housing requirement is only 500 homes higher than in the submitted plan, despite the addition of 1,500 homes to meet the Black Country need."

The letter also says the three sites selected for the Black Country allocation do not necessarily make sense geographically - and points to green belt in areas such as Shifnal and Albrighton as potential alternatives.

Those comments will raise serious worries with campaigners opposed to development in and around the towns, as well as the proposed plans from the Bradford Estates for 3,000 homes on land North of the M54 and west of Tong.

The letter states: "We have serious concerns about the geography and distribution of the proposed allocations that have been identified to meet the Black Country needs.

"Whilst the proposed housing allocation at the former Ironbridge Power Station site and the Bridgnorth site are both well related to the Black Country, and in particular Telford and Wolverhampton, the site on the west side of Shrewsbury is far less so.

"This is especially so in comparison to areas such as Shifnal and Albrighton which are located close to the M54 motorway and the Black Country .

"Whilst we appreciate this land is in the Green Belt, the council has already provided evidence to demonstrate that the exceptional circumstances required to justify altering Green Belt boundaries to allocate land for development exist, in principle at least."