Council considering rural development options

Shropshire Council, which is currently carrying out a partial review of its Local Plan, invited a call for sites in March whereby land for residential or commercial use could be promoted for use up to 2036.

The council is currently considering all replies and will publish the outcome later in the year.

One of the aspects being considered within the review is delivery of development in rural areas. The adopted plan currently has community hubs and clusters.

Hubs, such as Cockshutt, Hinstock, Chirbury and Knockin, contain a range of services and facilities. Clusters – a number of smaller settlements served by a hub – have a smaller range of services.

Settlements have only been designated as a hub or cluster if their parish council has opted for this.

There are around 500 settlements (including some very small ones) in the county; 187 of them are clusters. Hubs and clusters are deemed to provide sustainable development but have not been technically assessed on the level of sustainability.

Important proposals within the partial review include:

Removal of development boundaries from hubs and clusters;

Settlements will be screened to see if they have 100 people or 50 dwellings. Settlements with more than this threshold will be further screened on the level of service provision with a point based system which has been used by many other councils.

The likely outcome, therefore, is that some settlements with a good level of facilities and services will be upgraded from open countryside to a hub. If this happens, it will create opportunities for owners of land adjoining such settlements.

Fortunately, some of the designated clusters do allow a small amount of appropriate development.

This is particularly helpful where very little development has taken place in a settlement for many years because the average house price and average age of the population tends to increase, in some areas, making it increasingly difficult for young local people to acquire or build a home.

As parish councils decide whether they wish settlements to be a cluster or not, there is potential for some clusters to be removed from the list. I therefore encourage owners of land in or adjoining clusters to secure any available consent now in case the opportunity is removed in the future.

The council will release its preferred options in October.

For further information and advice, please contact Shaun Jones, a rural director at Halls, Battlefield, Shrewsbury on Tel: 01743 450700.