Council 'disappointed' over power station planning report
A council has said it was "disappointed" with the way its neighbouring authority has handled the planning application for the Ironbridge Power Station.
Shropshire Council had put forward a report saying Telford & Wrekin Council would hand over the 'final decision' for the Ironbridge Power Station development – if the Telford council's committee approves the proposal.
But, the report was withdrawn from the full council meeting on Thursday after the Telford & Wrekin authority said it had not been asked to comment on its contents – with Shropshire Council's speaker, Councillor Vince Hunt issuing an apology.
The former power station site sits within Shropshire Council's boundary.
But, because of the scale of the 1,000 home development, and its impact on neighbouring Ironbridge – within Telford & Wrekin's boundary – the application is being considered by both councils.
Shropshire Council said the report was withdrawn for talks between the two councils, and will "go back before the council in future if necessary".
Councillor David Wright, Cabinet Member for Economy, Housing, Transport and Infrastructure at Telford & Wrekin said they had provided no comment for the report.
He said: “We were disappointed in Shropshire Council’s approach to the planning strategy for the site in Ironbridge as shown in their report. To be clear we did not input to the report and were not asked to provide comment.
"We will always maintain control of planning within Telford and Wrekin. We do though, welcome their apology.”
Councillor Carolyn Healy, councillor for Ironbridge, added: “I welcome the fact that Shropshire Council has deferred this report. We need to make sure that the interests of our residents and businesses are properly considered in this planning application and we will never delegate our powers.”
The application will be considered at a special meeting of Shropshire Council’s southern planning committee on March 23, and the parallel application will go before Telford and Wrekin Council’s planning committee in May.
