Former Telford factory could be replaced by hundreds of homes
A factory could be knocked down to make way for nearly 400 houses, if redevelopment plans are approved.
Countryside Properties Plc has applied to demolish the former Maxell plastics facility, north of Wellington, to build two, three, and four-bedroom homes.
Outline permission for 495 homes and other facilities was granted in 2015, earlier phases of the project have already been fully approved.
A design statement, prepared by BHB Architects to accompany the main housing application, notes that 15 per cent of the proposed homes would be classed as affordable and says the whole estate “respects and complements the existing character of the surrounding area”.
Telford & Wrekin Council will make its decision at a later date.
The BHB statement says: “The application site is situated on the corner of the A442 Queensway and A5223 Whitchurch Drive.
“The eastern boundary of the site is faced by Apley Woods and Apley pool, and to the southern boundary is Apley Castle, which is made up of residential development zones along with Severn Hospice care facility.”
Forty-two of the proposed houses will have two bedrooms, with 207 three-bed and 70 four-bed homes. A majority of the 56 planned affordable homes will have three bedrooms.
The plans include “new footpath and cycle routes, including a link to the existing Silkin Way south of the site”, “landscaping, complementary to the woodland planting in Apley Wood” and an “open meadow” in the northeast corner of the 60-acre site.
The Hadley and Leegomery Parish Council and an Eyton on the Weald Moors parish meeting will be asked for their views about the plans during a consultation period that runs until Wednesday, October 6.
Maxell was known for specialising in video and audio tape and batteries, but with changing technologies shifted its operations into new areas of the plastics industry.
The firm moved to new Telford premises in 2014.
