Decision due on first set of power station homes

Council planners will run the rule over detailed proposals for the first 107 new homes set to be built on the site, after an earlier proposal was thrown out for falling short of strict design standards.

Planners refused the original scheme in December 2023, saying the designs “failed to capture an identity or sense of place that is relevant to the site and its history”.

The revised application will go before Shropshire Council’s planning committee next week, and has now been recommended for approval by the authority’s planning officers.

As part of conditions approved with the outline scheme in 2021, plans for new dwellings built on the site have to conform to a specific “design code” intended to ensure high quality development on the former home of the landmark Ironbridge power station.

New designs include a “tree-lined corridor” at the centre of the development, with design features on the houses taking inspiration from a 1930s-era pump house on the site, which was once used to divert water out of the River Severn into the power station.

“The vision for the development as set out within the design code ‘is to create an inclusive and sustainable community that truly integrates with its diverse historical roots; recognising the heritage and landscape surrounding the site and reflecting local character’. The proposed scheme has adequately achieved that whist also accommodating the requirements of modern building standards,” said the officer’s report.

“The scheme has been discussed at length with developer and this process has been assisted by Design:Midlands who have been able to offer independent advice and suggestions to the Local Planning Authority. Key spaces within the proposals have been defined via workshops and an approved Parcel Code which has expanded on the high-level requirements of the Design Code and takes account of the key vistas both internally and externally of the site.”

The proposals include six affordable dwellings, or five percent of the total, with the remaining 101 set for open market sale for the site, which straddles the border between the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin local authority areas.

The outline plans submitted by developers Harworth Group in 2019 and approved in 2021 included a retirement village and employment sites, as well as a primary school, sports pitches, and a railway link. The overall master-plan for the site is set to be delivered in seven separate phases.

The scheme will go before Shropshire Council’s Southern Planning Committee on Tuesday, September 24.