Charity’s Telford housing bid to go before planners
A learning disability charity has applied to demolish its existing care facility in Telford and build a mixture of supported and open-market homes on its grounds.
Hft’s Shropshire and Staffordshire base, in Madeley, would be knocked down and replaced with nine supported living homes and three registered social care bungalows if the plans are approved.
Sixty-six open-market houses, a new plant nursery and a cafe would also be provided on the 14-and-a-half acre site to the north of Beech Road.
Outline planning permission for “not more than 90” homes was granted in 2015. Madeley Town Council and The Gorge Parish Council will be consulted about the full application, and Telford and Wrekin Council’s planning department will make its decision at a later date.
A design statement, submitted on behalf of the charity, says: “Hft are a national charity providing care and support to people with life-long disabilities, and their primary objective is to create appropriate accommodation which responds to the needs of their users and delivers a comfortable and enjoyable environment to live in.
“The site is approximately 5.98 hectares and is currently occupied by Hft who provide purpose-built supported living and care facilities for adults with lifelong learning disabilities.”
If approved, all the new buildings would be accessed via the existing Forbes Close junction, and “a minimum of two parking spaces per dwelling” would be provided. Just over half of the 66 open-market homes would have three bedrooms, with the remainder having either two or four.
The design of the houses, it says, “responds to local character” and “takes reference from more attractive buildings in the local area, in particular the new development on the opposite side of Beech Road, currently being constructed by Shropshire Homes”.
That development, which consists of 53 houses and the conversion of the former Lincoln Grange Nursing Home into 36 homes, was green-lit in 2016.
