Masterplan for major development near Shrewsbury revealed

Berry's presented the plans for the proposed development in Bicton to residents and the parish council last week.

It has been put forward for consideration in Shropshire Council's updated local plan which will be decided next month.

If the 50-acre site is successful, a planning application will be submitted on behalf of the landowners, Berwick Estate.

Helen Howie, planning consultant at Berry's, said: "The site is to the north of Shelton Water Tower on the north side of Holyhead Road. It is big enough for between 250 and 300 houses which will take up about 13.7 hectares. The remaining land will be for employment uses, health and care, and there will also be 3.7 hectares of public open space.

"There will be no change to any existing woods and there will be no change to the public rights of way. In fact, the open space will probably be improved.

"We have submitted a proposal to Shropshire Council for consideration in their local plan. The plan was due to go to Shropshire Council cabinet in October but it has been put back to November 7 so we're a bit ahead of time."

Sustainable

But Councillor Richard Brett, chairman of Bicton Parish Council, said parishioners are already concerned.

He added that members and residents are not opposed to developments but said they should be sustainable.

"We appreciate Shrewsbury and Shropshire requires housing but we're concerned it all seems to be landing in our parish," he said.

"There is already the best part of 1,000 dwellings on the table with the Shrewsbury West Sustainable Urban Extension and 276 of them are within the boundary of Bicton. To put it into perspective, there is currently only about 400 homes.

"We're intrinsically a rural community but we are fighting becoming an urban one."

Councillor Brett also said he questions the use of the word 'sustainable' because Bicton does not have the infrastructure to cope with hundreds of extra homes.

He added: "Sustainable seems to mean whatever the developer wants to mean on the day. Because we have a bus that comes once an hour, a petrol station and two public houses, suddenly in their eyes were a metropolis."

Berry's will present the plans to Shrewsbury Town Council on October 30.