Fears over 'nightmare' junction as developer seeks to build 110 homes near Shrewsbury
A 'nightmare' road junction near Shrewsbury could get even worse it has been claimed, as a developer seeks council views on a plan for 110 new homes.
Land west of Lyth Hill Road, in Bayston Hill, has been earmarked in the draft local plan for housing, access roads and open spaces and is surrounded by fields.
Shropshire Councillor Ted Clarke said the area to the south of Bayston Hill with Amblecote Drive and Grove Lane to the north has been put into the draft Shropshire Local Plan which has not yet been passed.
He said he thought developers Redrow Homes were "attempting to push the envelope".
"The principal issue for me is the nightmare that the A49 Hereford Road junction has been forever," said Councillor Clarke.
"It is so bad that people on the Lyth Hill Road side do not turn right. Residents on The Common side turn left to go to Church Stretton.
"I can't recall many accidents but that's because it is so bad people just avoid the close shaves."
Councillor Clarke said he had been trying to convince Highways England to make improvements in the area.
He said that if 110 new homes come into the area it would put increased pressure also on the giant Dobbies Island junction - or Baileys Island he calls it.
Councillor Clarke says there are also huge local concerns about plans that would mean the closure of the local GP surgery with it relocating to Meole Brace as part of plans for a big health hub.
"There is a great deal of concern about it in Bayston Hill," said Councillor Clarke.
"It is already busy even before potentially 200 more people come to the area."
Councillor Clarke feels that if the battle of the principle of building on the land has already been lost, traffic and other issues will be the main ones to deal with.
"The idea was floated two or three years ago with very considerable opposition for its impact on Lyth Hill Road and the impact of the A49 junction," he said.
Shropshire Council has told housebuilder Redrow Homes Limited that the company will not have to include an environmental impact assessment in any forthcoming planning application.
Mike Davies of the council's northern planning team said in an August 3 letter to the developer's agent that: "Taking into account the scale, nature and location, associated proposed assessments to accompany a planning application and likely mitigation measures it is not anticipated it will result in significant environmental effects.
"Therefore, the Local Planning Authority considers that any forthcoming application for this site is not EIA development."
Developers' agent Pinnacle Planning has told the council that a detailed planning application is being prepared to be submitted to Shropshire Council for residential development at land at Lyth Hill Road, Bayston Hill.
The proposed development will include new vehicular and pedestrian access from Lyth Hill Road, creation of improved green open space, green infrastructure and biodiversity, a children’s play area, the retention of high quality trees where possible, and tree planting to mitigate the loss of existing trees, and new surface water drainage infrastructure.
On transport issues the agent says an assessment will accompany the proposals for residential development.
"Access to the site is proposed off Lyth Hill Road in the form of a single priority T-junction with 5.5m carriageway width and 6.0m junction radii," it says.
"A new section of footway is proposed on the western side of Lyth Hill Road, north of the proposed access, to tie into the existing footpath at Grove Lane.
"Traffic surveys have identified that the A49/Lyth Hill Road/The Common junction will require improvement, although a mitigation scheme is proposed to ensure the junction operates within capacity and more than offsets the traffic impact of the proposed development."
