Local Plan

The first thing that jumps out at you when reviewing the last 6 weeks of planning applications which have been submitted to Shropshire Council from housing developers are the enormous number of applications that have been made. 

I have only managed to review the last 6 weeks - I did try to get AI to help me out but it couldnt access the Shropshire Council planning portal.  

I am hoping that other concerned residents in Shropshire are going to help me undertake more analysis in order to complete a whole year of submissions.  Clearly the more data we have the more robust the conclusions will be from our analysis. 

The huge increase in planning requests that are currently being forced on Shropshire Council is as a result of there being no current agreed Local Plan.  Developers and land owners are taking full advantage of this situation where Government is clear that presumptions in favour of development will be expected to be made by planning authorities in the absence of an up to date Local Plan.  

I believe like many others that what is happening right now is just wrong for people who live in Shropshire.  I am wondering if we can have a coming together of people who seek a common purpose and who can shout with one voice as to what we want for Shropshire when it comes to more housing provision.  

I am concerned that if we simply protest about our own individual issues such as the housing that is being planned for our individual villages then we will be picked off by both developers, land owners and Shropshire Council who through no fault of themselves have been served this hospital pass by the previous administration.   

In summary over the last 6 weeks there have been: 

372 new homes agreed for construction by Shropshire Council 

967 new homes submitted by developers & validated by Shrops Council 

871 new homes submitted by developers & refused by Shrops Council

70 new homes appealed and granted by Planning Inspectorate

If you mulitply these numbers and extrapolate to reflect a whole year of submissions you get 

3224 new homes agreed for construction by Shropshire Council 

8,380 new homes submitted by developers & validated by Shrops Council 

7,548 new homes submitted by developers & refused by Shrops Council

THIS WOULD BE THE APPROX. FIGURES FOR JUST 1 YEAR IF THE LAST 6 WEEKS OF SUBMISSIONS ARE REFLECTIVE OF THE WHOLE YEAR!

So, we need to build 10,000 new homes in Shropshire over the next 5 years to comply with Government guidelines.  Based on these projected numbers that I have extrapolated from the planning portal it is likely that these Government targets are going to be easily met - if not significantly surpassed in Shropshire.   

So why aren't we asking why these planning submissions are not being vetted against these targets as well as whether or not they meet the individual planning criteria.  

Based on how Shropshire would appear to be determining individual planning applications we are going to end up with significantly more housing than even the Government think we should have.  This cannot be right especially when many of us think that in general this new housing being proposed by land owners and developers is not only being built in the wrong places but is also the wrong type of housing both in design and purpose. 

Do not forget the Ironbridge Development in Severn Valley that will deliver 1075 new homes in the next 5 years, which is already banked and is currently being built.  As well as the 800 homes being proposed for Albrighton that whilst being refused planning will almost certainly be taken to appeal by developers.  We should be helping the residents support their case to object to proposals that will change where they live forever due to plans to build on green belt land and because of the proximity of this new site to the existing settlement.  

There must be other developments around Shropshire already being built that our campaign needs to log so as to work out just how many developments have already been given the good to go.  The Homes for Everyone published by the Community Planning Alliance suggests that over 1,000,000 homes across the Country have already recieved planning permission.   How many do we already have is Shropshire?  Once we understand these numbers we can then go to Shropshire Council and ask them to stop this craziness and find a way get our local planning policy back on to a sensible footing.   

The whole set up that is currently being delivered is just crazy.  How can Shropshire Council planning deal with all of this?  Our Council should be providing strong leadership and a steady hand to deliver the best outcome from a bad situation that Shropshire finds itself in at the moment.  

Right now it would seem that current planning policy in Shropshire is loaded in favour of land owners and house builders at the expense of local communities who even if they get unwanted new development are not getting their fair share on the planning gain from the proposed developments.  

It seems obvious that well planned opposition to any development would be able to move any planning applications towards a planning inquiry / judicial review which even if the local objection was refused would at the very least result in years of delay which in itself may buy our communities enough time to avoid further development until a proper Local Plan can be delivered.  A local plan that would at least ensure that proper due diligence could be seen to have been undertaken so as to allow communities to know that any new development was being properly allocated in a planned professional manner. 

Not only will all these planning decisions / public inquiries / judicial reviews take significant time to progress to conclusion but just as important will cost Shropshire Council a significant amount of money to deliver.  One really hopes that this does not form part of the current decision making process within our Council simply because Shropshire Council cannot afford to oppose schemes due to current state of the Councils' finances.  Should this occur this would be a gross flauting of the democratic process in favour of big business.  This would be another clear example of the power of the wealthy over the public process, a process which should be designed to protect all of us rather than just the wealthy few.

Check out the planning portal and see just how many appeals are currently being lodged.  This is just going to be unsustainable if Shropshire have to go through a similar process for every scheme that either developers or local people are prepared and ready to take all the way.......and all becasue WE DO NOT HAVE A VALIDATED LOCAL PLAN.

SO WHAT DO WE DO NEXT?

The first thing that any community must be doing is making sure that if they want to object to a new development then they make objections that can be classified as 'material' objections.  The only real way to ensure that this is done is by getting legal and technical professionals to review the submissions made by developers.  This will require the payment of professional fees.   We have to be prepared to raise the funds that will allow us to bring these professionals on board.   They will tell us if they think we have a case to stop proposed developments.  And if the professional advice is that we have a case then these material considerations can be taken right the way through the planning process.  Any planning authority that ignores these concerns risks having to defend itself in a  judicial review - one that should the Authority lose may result in them having to pay all of the fees of the people who initially raised their objections - that would include the professional fees incurred.

Simply objecting to schemes without this professional advice just makes us all look like a bunch of Nimby's. BUT most of these current proposed developments are not providing any benefit to the communities that they are going to impact on.   AND neither are these developments in any way the sort of housing that we need to provide for 21st century style living that we must deliver in the future.  In Shropshire we are still building housing that is based on 20th Century designs that cost future residents a fortune to heat in the winter and where the residents boil in the summer.  There are alternatives - just look across the North Sea to see what our European sisters and brothers have been doing for years now.  

The solution is clear to me - and actually not a million miles away from what the Government wants us to do - which may help us in Shropshire when it comes to providing and funding a sensible solution to our housing issues.

So whilst we need to make sure that housing that is built is designed to significantly increased densification levels than what we currently build to and that we have built out all our current agreed planning applications so as to stop land banking, we also need to be campaigning for NEW GREEN TOWNS in Shropshire.  

A development of at least 10,000 homes - built next to a major road network and national rail lines where every   house is built to 'passive haus' standards and has solar panels,  would solve many of our issues in Shropshire.  Whilst at the same time helping to reduce our long term carbon emissions.  And of course such a large development must come with planned infrastructure - health centres, schools, kindergartens, older persons homes, community centres, libraries, pubs, shops......maybe even a new railway station - JUST THE WAY WE USED TO DO IT WHEN WE BUILT THE NEW TOWNS OF THE PAST!

HOW DO WE PAY FOR ALL OF THIS?    

Whilst the Government should help as Shropshire helps them hit their housing targets there is another significant funding source.  

Land could be purchased at 'market cost'. 

This is the big one that land owners in Shropshire will most likely oppose.  For years now whilst these land owners have controlled Shropshire Council - through their control of previous administrations - the landowners have managed to deliver eye watering incomes for themselves at the expense of those of us who have bought homes to live in.  

These land owners have been allowed to sell the land that they have been buying at market cost of around £15k per acre at today's prices, & then selling the same land for anything up to £500k per acre once it has got planning permission.  And at the same time being allowed to build 20th century cheap housing and not having to provide the infrastructure all of us know we are missing in Shropshire.   Just do some research and find out how much the Weir Hill development has made the previous owners of the land on which this 600 house development was built - just south of Shrewsbury. 

Currently land owners take around a third of the price of every house that is built in this County.  So a £300k house will allow the landowner of the land on which the house is built to pocket around £100k.  This is just wrong when the purchasers of these houses are taking out 40 year + mortgages to pay back a loan - a third of which is going to an already wealthy land owner.  I am not suggesting that we reduce the price of a £300k property to £200k, I am proposing that the £100k goes to build the infrastructure that we all need.  So a quick back of fag packet calc would suggest that for a 10,000 property new town with houses being priced at an average of £300k we would look at generating around £1bn of cash that Shropshire could be spending on our infrastructure - for us all in Shropshire.  

So first plan - lets all get together and discuss face to face what we can do right now and what we can do going forward.  I am not saying that these suggestions are the only ones in town.  Lets all of us discuss in the round.

It would be great to hear from people who have a similar view point.  It may only take a few of us to get together to change this policy.  At the very least we should TRY to do something about it so that at we can say we did our best to change this current planning policy nightmare.  If nothing else we should at least be able to tell our future generations that we tried. 

Previous Comments on the Local Plan a couple of years ago now back in 2024

Local news articles in the Shropshire Star recently are suggesting that the Planning Inspectorate who are currently reviewing Shropshire Councils draft Local Plan propsal have stalled the review process whilst they ask Shropshire Council to provide further evidence to substantiate the 'Soundness' of the proposed plan.  The concern being that if Shropshire Council cannot do this then 'The Plan' - which has been on the drawing board for over 5 years now and which is hoping to allow for the building of 30,000 new homes over the next 20 years will be stalled.  

Many of you may say - brilliant - no more housing then!

Unfortunately not the case 

If a planning authority (in this case Shropshire Council) are unable to provide the Government with an assurance that they have what is called a 5 year land supply - which really means plans to build the number of houses that the Government wants building - then developers are entitled to start to submit 'speculative development plans'.  In lieu of any fixed housing plans as specified in a robust and approved Local Plan housing can take place in locations that are not outlined by Shropshire Council and there is little or nothing that our planners can do to stop these developments from taking place. 

I wouldnt be surprised if developers are at this very moment sharpening their pencils to start submitting such development plans.

And how am I up on this - because this acutally happened in my village in Cross Houses around 5 years ago now.  This was the last time Shropshire Council failed to achieve their 5 year land supply targets - this only lasted for a matter of months - but in that time Fletcher Homes managed to get plans approved for the building of another 80 homes in the village.  Now known as Berrington Meadows.

So if Shropshire Council don't get their act together quick sticks expect some develepments kicking off soon near you.  

Cressage Look Out!!!

And don't be fooled by anything that our current Councillor is putting out trying to suggest that this is all the fault of the current Government.  This Local Plan has been on the drawing board for years now and should have been signed off last year - so protecting Shropshire from futher Government requirements for a couple of years at least.  But because our Council still haven't got one in place its going to be open season.  Talk about trying to shift the blame.  This is particularly distateful. 

Of course we need more housing but the right type of housing in the right sort of place - built with our green environment in mind and under the control of the community rather than housing developers and land owners who only ever have one abiding goal....the pursuit of their own personal wealth.