Decision made on controversial Ironbridge housing scheme amid World Heritage Site status fears
A government planning inspector has refused planning permission for the building of more than homes near Ironbridge.
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It's been over three years since developers, Shropshire Homes, applied to build 101 homes on the former Coalbrookdale Works within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site.
Now, it looks like it's back to the drawing board for the developers after a government planning inspector dismissed their appeal and refused planning permission.
Shropshire Homes purchased the vacant plot, the former home to the Coalbrookdale AGA foundry, back in 2018.
For a time, the plan looked to be going full steam ahead - even Historic England failed to raise substantial concerns over the application.
But the decision-making process ground to a halt when the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos), a body which makes recommendations to Unesco over world heritage sites, intervened.
In its letter to Telford & Wrekin Council, Icomos said protecting the industrial landscape of the area was "essential" and that "all aspects connected with Abraham Darby and his production processes" should be conserved.
