'Very disappointing' - Shropshire Council responds to inspectors' scathing assessment of 'unsound' local plan

Shropshire Council could be told to withdraw its proposal for housing and commercial developments in the region up to 2038 over “shortcomings” including longstanding problems over how the council provides 1,500 homes for the Black Country, and its 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.

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

A letter from inspectors said: "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.

Council bosses say they already responded to previous concerns of the inspectors and provided additional material to the examination in 2024, adding that the authority has already proposed to increase the housing and employment requirements of the county to reflect previous comments made by the inspectors, and to maintain its contribution to unmet needs of the Black Country in addition to its own needs.

Councillor Chris Schofield, the council’s cabinet member for planning, said: “Unfortunately, it seems that on a number of issues the inspectors have sided with the arguments put by promoters of sites not included in the draft plan.

“This is very disappointing, while inspectors are also now seeking the council to accommodate additional site allocations for Black Country needs, and to increase the plan period by three years, which would require the council to identify sites for around an additional 4,000 dwellings.

“We are in a similar situation to many other councils and will be considering the inspectors’ views very carefully in the coming weeks and assessing a range of options as to how best to proceed, while taking account also of the implications of recent government announcements on planning reforms. A report on this will come to cabinet in February.

“However, above all we must consider what is best for Shropshire’s communities and how best to maintain a positive framework for making decisions at a time of significant upheaval in the national planning system.”