'A matter of life and death': Market Drayton residents to lose vital turning point

Residents in Rush Lane have used a farm access as a turning point for years but David Wilson Homes now said it plans to remove the access, which it owns.

The developer is responsible for a major estate, Drayton Meadows, on land bordering the lane and also plans to build nine houses on Rush Lane itself.

Town councillors fear that once the turning point is built on, ambulances, fire engines and bin lorries will have to reverse all the way out of the narrow lane, risking injury to pedestrians.

At the last meeting of Market Drayton Town Council, Councillor Mark Whittle, who is also an ambulance driver, said: "It's not just refuse, it's ambulances, police, they need to be able to get down there and not reverse half a mile back out.

"The residents need it as much as anyone else. It is life and death to them."

Councillor David Minnery, who also sits on Shropshire Council, said the residents "could find themselves blocked in".

'Homes are much-needed'

The town council passed a motion pledging to continue supporting the development, but with that support being "conditional" on the turning point issue being resolved.

David Wilson Homes said it had tried to find an "alternative and viable solution" to the problem but that it had not been possible.

Dominic Harman, managing director for David Wilson Homes Mercia, said: “The area of Rush Lane presently being used by a few people as a turning point is on land owned by ourselves and has always been on private property.

"It has never been identified as a formal facility, however we have allowed the local people to use this existing farm access whilst our development progressed and for as long we possibly could.

“The development masterplan is clear and was approved prior to our involvement in the scheme and we now need to close this old access to continue to deliver the much-needed homes under construction.

“We have worked hard with the local community to find an alternative and viable solution, however this has not been possible and we are now obliged to follow the terms of our planning agreement and implement the previously agreed layout.”