600-homes plan for Shrewsbury under fire

The application for the homes, which range from two-bedroom to five-bedroom properties on land at c off Preston Street were lodged by applicants Taylor Wimpey and Permission Homes with Shropshire Council in 2015 and members of its planning committee will decide on the matter later this week.

It is expected the scheme, which will be built in two phases, will get the green light on Thursday.

The plans have been the subject of criticism over the building of a second access road – despite a concession from the developers.

Now members of Shrewsbury Civic Society have submitted a letter of objection to the council saying that the they continue to object to the scheme and reiterate their previous concerns.

The developers have submitted amendments to their plans but the civic society feel these do not address their objections.

In their letter, Mike Carter, the civic society's chair of planning, said: "The traffic access and construction traffic issues have not been resolved.

"We understand that agreements have not been conclusively reached to provide the land needed for the road link to London Road. It is usual for new estates to have their access roads built first to enable construction. We believe it is unacceptable that even the first 200 homes should be built and occupied prior to such access."

The society also believe insufficient planning has gone in to the scheme with regard to public use and community space.

In his letter, Mr Carter goes on to say: "While there is some planned provision for green spaces and a small play area, little else is provided to encourage a sense of community eg: a street focus, a shop, a pre-school, community places, etc.

"Such facilities can be unsustainable economically but in this case there is likely to be more housing over the medium term and so such needs will grow. Without them, similar sized estates such as Herongate, have week community cohesion and feel more like commuter housing. The facilities and long-term maintenance of the play area and green spaces need to be strictly conditioned in advance of any determination.

"The society has growing concerns about how the outcome of planning consultations have too often been ignored. There have been many applications where the impact on the local context is not fully assessed. Such applications should not be validated.

"We think that the quality of new housing design is often too poor. There is interest to improve it but insufficient will."

Rob Perrins, technical director of Taylor Wimpey said: "The development is an important part of the council’s plan to deliver much needed housing, including affordable housing for the town. We are keen to move forward and commence the delivery phase of the development with our joint developers Persimmon Homes.”