Decision for homes on village school land near Oswestry put back

The application, put forward by Shropshire Council’s own housing company Cornovii Developments Ltd, had been recommended for refusal by planning officers who said the Ifton Heath Primary School building, in Overton Road, St Martin's, was a heritage asset and should not be knocked down.

Officers said the site was outside the development boundary of St Martin’s and a proposed fence aimed at reducing noise would have a negative visual impact.

But when the application went before the council’s northern planning committee on Tuesday members were informed that Cornovii bosses had requested a deferral.

The company said it wanted more time to address the officers’ reasons for refusal and consider new evidence supporting the viability of the scheme if the school building was to be retained.

Cornovii had previously resisted calls from St Martin’s Parish Council and village residents to convert rather than demolish the school, saying this would lead to a reduction in the total number of homes on the site which would render the scheme unviable.

But a last-minute representation from independent development consultants RCA Regeneration said it had carried out a viability assessment which had found a 32-home development – including conversion of the school into three properties – could be made viable.

The firm said if all 29 new units were affordable homes, grant funding could be obtained for 28 of them.

The scheme put forward by Cornovii was for 12 affordable homes and 23 open market houses.

'Unusual'

Ian Kilby, head of planning services, informed the committee of the request to defer.

He said: “It’s because the applicant wishes to have an opportunity to address the reasons for refusal and consider the viability assessment.

“The officer recommendation to committee on this basis has therefore been updated and is now one of recommending that the application be deferred.

“This is an unusual scenario but I think it allows the applicant time and the opportunity to address these draft reasons for refusal and look at matters of viability.”

The committee unanimously agreed to defer the application.

Councillor Mark Jones declared an interest and did not take part in the vote. He is the chairman of the council’s housing supervisory board which oversees Cornovii’s activity.

He is one of four members of the planning committee who also sit on the housing board – an issue which has caused concern among St Martin’s residents who objected to the scheme.

However, Shropshire Council has said being on the board should not usually amount to a conflict of interest which would prevent councillors from taking part in discussion and voting on Cornovii applications.