Flooding fears put Minsterley homes bid on hold

Developer, Atbay Ltd, wants to create a mixed used development on the former bus depot in the village.

But councillors at Thursday's Central Planning Committee voted to defer the application to get more information, particularly on the possibility of flooding on the site and also noise issues.

A report to the meeting said the application was for 10 houses to the east of the land, retail units on the western frontage and a business zone for up to eight units to the north. The latter would create about 25 jobs, the report said.

Minsterley parish councillor Susan Lockwood said there was a lot of concern in the village about traffic dangers and the access from the site onto the main road.

"There are already extreme problems with the road to Pontesbury. Drivers come into Minsterley almost blind and the access road for the site would not be seen at all," she said.

Councillor Lockwood said there was also no footpath from the site into the village and its supermarket.

"We have a flood forum in Minsterley and there are concerns about flooding of the land," she said.

"We also want affordable housing in Minsterley, two-bedroom housing. This application is for three and four-bedroom houses."

Several councillors said they felt that the scheme had come before them prematurely.

Councillor Tony Parsons said land to the east had already had problems with flooding and also raised the issue of noise.

He said the nearby Muller factory was now open 24 hours and was worried about noise.

The committee voted to defer a decision to gain more information about flooding and noise.