More than 1,000 people have their say on proposed Shifnal development

Residents of Shifnal have made their views known about the plans, which could see a bypass built west of the town, a huge employment site of up to 40 hectares and a further 1,500 homes built.

An action group set up specifically to fight the plans, Shifnal Matters, has said the large number of responses shows how valued the town is to its residents.

During the consultation, members from the group delivered leaflets to every house in Shifnal outlining the extremities of the planned development, how to respond and even translated planning jargon into understandable phrases.

They also held weekly sessions along with Shifnal Town Council to help residents fill and submit response forms and this weekend personally handed more than 800 responses to Liam Cowden, Shropshire Council’s planning policy officer.

John Moore, Shifnal Matters representative, said: “We’ve managed to generate an amazing response from more than 1,000 people which is massive for the town.

“The whole of Shropshire only managed a few hundred and previous consultations such as this have got nowhere near as much.

“I think the main factor is that we’ve managed to get the people of Shifnal to become aware and understand what’s actually going on.

“Shropshire Council put it in such language that it’s almost impossible for anybody to understand no matter what your professional background is.”

The consultation results are set to be published by Shropshire Council in May, before it republishes a local plan and then takes it to a Government inspector later in the year.

The next public meeting of Shifnal Matters will be on March 8, held at Shifnal Village Hall and will be held to inform residents of the town’s overall response.

The group has also released a document containing overall views collated from residents responses to an online survey, which can be viewed on the group’s Facebook page Shifnal Matters.