Green space to be declared 'asset of community value'

The plot of land next to 30 Havelock Road, Shrewsbury, has been the subject of four planning applications over the last 16 years for a detached house to be built on it.

Nearby residents have repeatedly objected to the plans, arguing the garden area breaks up the built-up street, provides a green link from the road to the woodland beyond and is an important wildlife habitat.

Shropshire Council planners have consistently refused to grant permission for the new property, most recently in December 2020, citing an unacceptable impact on the Belle Vue conservation area. The Planning Inspectorate has also dismissed three appeals by the landowner against the council’s refusal.

An application has now been lodged with Shropshire Council to have the area listed as an asset of community value (ACV).

If the application is successful it will not necessarily prevent the landowner from pursuing the development, but the designation could be taken into account as a material consideration when any future planning applications are being determined.

The ACV status would last for five years and would mean that if the landowner wanted to sell the site it would have to inform the council and allow six weeks for a qualifying community organisation to bid to buy it.

Shrewsbury Town Council will discuss the application at a meeting on Monday.

A report to councillors by town clerk Helen Ball says: “As members will know, this parcel of land has been the subject of numerous applications for development dating as far back as 2005.

“The latest application was refused in December 2020, citing the lack of preservation or enhancement to the Belle Vue Conservation area.

“The parcel of land in question was once the gardens to number 30 Havelock Road, a red-brick two-storey villa built in the 1880s.

“This parcel of land was annexed from number 30 some time ago by a 1.8 metre high boundary fence but retains the characterful trees and greenery that adds to the street scene of Havelock Road.

“For some time the parcel of land has been used as an amenity space for access to the woodland down towards the railway line.”

Ms Ball recommends: “That Shrewsbury Town Council supports the registration of land adjacent to 30 Havelock Road as an asset of community value on the grounds that this site has been recognised as a valuable visual amenity to the area since 2005 and by virtue of its annexing from the principle building residents have enjoyed an as-of-right use of this site for recreational activity, namely walking and accessing the woodland beyond.”

Shropshire Council will rule on the ACV application by April 20.