'Creaking at the seams': Objection to 450 homes plan for outskirts of Shrewsbury
A development of up to 450 new homes on one of the northern gateways into Shrewsbury would push the creaking infrastructure to breaking point, residents say.
Barwood Development Securities Ltd has submitted an application for the housing estate on land off Ellesmere Road.
The site is included in Shropshire Council's draft development plan, tied in to the scheme for Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road.
Barwood has said the building of the houses would be in two phases, the first seeing the construction of 150 home, with the rest following. Also planned is a local centre which could include a convenience store, and open space.
But news of the application has brought objections saying the infrastructure could not cope, whether the North West Relief Road is built or not.
Alexander Phillips, town councillor for the area is among those objecting.
He said he was aware the site was already included in the Local Plan, however, that was with the specific condition that no application be made on this site until the North West Relief Road was completed.
"I note that this application says that, contrary to the local plan, 150 homes could be built before the road was completed," he said.
Local resident Gareth Price in his objection to Shropshire Council writes: "This development would be yet another erosion of precious green belt land around our beautiful town."
He said there were clear directives that no planning or development would take place until the relief road was approved and built.
"The current infrastructure is creaking at the seams, and adding another 450 houses would be a breaking point," he added.
"We don't even have a decent regular bus service for this side of the town. Current schools, medical services and transport links cannot support this development."
Householder Jon Piper said the impact this would have on traffic and schools was significant, making the Ellesmere Road unworkable.
"This would be the case even if the proposed relief road was passed, but is certainly the case without the road being passed," he said.
The potential for up to 1,000 cars coming off the estate onto the Ellesmere Road concerns Victoria Jones, who said: "Ellesmere Road, which has narrow footpaths and no cycle lane, cannot withstand a potential 1,000 more cars. Even if the relief road goes ahead people will drive into town.
"Not only will this development destroy the environment and wildlife habitats but will create a huge amount of traffic on the Ellesmere Road, which is already congested at peak times. The local infrastructure is not viable for this amount of new housing, there are no doctors, the primary school is over subscribed, there are no secondary schools and there is no descent public transport system."
