Residents urged to respond to 'essential' fresh consultation on Bridgnorth garden village
A fresh consultation on proposals for a garden village near Bridgnorth will provide an "essential" opportunity for residents to influence the development, councillors have said.
Residents are being urged to take part in the fresh eight-week consultation period on Shropshire Council’s draft local plan, which includes a garden village of 1,050 homes in Tasley.
The consultation period – termed ‘regulation 18’ consultation, will begin on August 3 and run until September 30.
Preferred opposed to an alternative garden village in Stanmore, Taylor Wimpey’s Tasley development has split the opinion of councillors, residents and business leaders in the area.
This comes after Bridgnorth Town Council hesitantly indicated its preference towards the Stanmore development, but with members highlighting the lack of information and opportunity for discussion.
Town mayor, councillor Kirstie Hurst-Knight, who represents East ward, said: “Shropshire Council has delayed its decision on agreeing its final draft plan to allow a further period of public consultation to occur.
“We will need to wait until August 3 for the Shropshire Council website to have the appropriate consultation links and I urge residents to use this opportunity to clearly express what they want for our town.
“Bridgnorth Town Council’s revised submission and recently submitted public question I hope have contributed in some part to the additional consultation being undertaken. To some extent we have been listened to.
“So, the processes we have gone through in recent weeks despite being difficult and subject to some criticism have resulted in a positive outcome.”
Councillor Christian Lea, who represents Bridgnorth East & Astley Abbotts on Shropshire Council, said: “I really do hope that local residents will take the opportunity to have their say on the contents of the draft local plan.
“There will be a full range of supporting material and evidence will also be available to view as part of this consultation.
“This includes the site assessment process the council has undertaken, and therefore includes all the development site options the council has considered.
“With the scale of development which is being proposed up to 2038 in Bridgnorth, it is essential that Shropshire Council has the views of as many local residents as possible.”
The decision to consult further on the development proposals is a considerable switch, with Shropshire Council originally planning a consultation that would have only looked at the process of the plan and its ‘soundness’.
Shropshire Council leader Peter Nutting said the fresh two-month consultation would give people a chance to raise whatever concerns they had about development sites.
Councillor Nutting said: “You can feed in whatever you like to that consultation, it is not so much about the process, it is about various sites, so that will give you an opportunity to speak to officers and feed in to officers.”
