Referendum planned on development plans for two Shropshire villages
A referendum is set to give hundreds of residents of two villages near Newport a say in planning for how their area is developed over the next decade.
Residents in the rural village of Tibberton and the nearby hamlet of Cherrington have been consulted over recent months as their parish council drew up a neighbourhood development plan.
At the next cabinet meeting on Thursday, September 23, Telford & Wrekin councillors will be asked to approve a referendum which will then allow villagers to vote on the plan.
If it gets more than 50 per cent backing from voters, it will become part of the wider Telford & Wrekin Local Plan which sets targets and limits on development in the borough.
David Wright, Telford & Wrekin’s cabinet member for economy, housing, transport and infrastructure, said: “Neighbourhood plans are an important part of the planning process and help areas such as Tibberton and Cherrington set out locally specific policies to be used in determining planning applications in the parish.
“The council has assisted the parish to steer the plan through the process from designating the neighbourhood plan area through to the referendum.
"We are still waiting the outcome of proposed planning reforms from the Government which could undermine this kind of local control over parts of the planning system.”
Five miles from Newport and 11 miles north of Telford, the parish of Tibberton and Cherrington currently has a population of nearly 1,000 people following recent growth in housing development, up more than 40 per cent over the last decade.
Following the consultation with residents, the neighbourhood plan aims to balance the need for limited development with the historic and rural nature of the community.
The parish council’s approach is in line with Telford & Wrekin’s Local Plan policy, which opposes any proposed development that would cause harm to the character of the villages or encroachment into the countryside.
