Parking Challenges in Atcham

Winter 2025

Latest update in December 2025 has seen the  Inspectorate refuse the planning appeal made by the owners of the Mytton & Mermaid against the original refusal of the planning application by Shropshire Council.  

Only recourse now in order to avoid future parking mayhem around Atcham Bridge will be for Brunning and Price - the owners of the hotel - to submit a request for a judicial review to be undertaken.  This however takes significant resources so whether the business will want to go down this route will be interesting to see. 

For sure right now if the M&M keep up their successful expansion of the original business then car parking will continue to be a major head ache for the residents of Atcham Village. 

Autumn 2024

So in early October M&M produced their outline plans for the proposed additional parking spaces on 'Atcham Green' see above

Plan is to have this commissioned in Summer 2025.  Personally whilst I applaud their current endeavour I think this may be a little optmistic based on the hurdles they have yet to jump - most noteably their plans past the Envrionment Agency.  But good luck and a fair wind to them.  

This presentation is forming the start of their consultation with the local community and as such a number of us took the time to attend the event and make our comments clear.  So whilst we all supported their initiative it would be really great if M&M, and more specifically Longnor Estate,  could see their way to including some sort of footpath access through the proposed development that would allow the adjacent fields connecting Atcham to Cross Houses to run a continuous footway from their locations along the river bank and into the site so allowing walkers to safely walk between the 2 villages .....and who knows maybe even enjoy a couple of pints at the M&M to boot. 

Winter 2023

So one minute you are going up ladders only to slither down a snake the next moment.  Now we have proposals to provide parking in the location that I suggested months ago.  I was hoping that with this proposed intervention would come the opportunity to put in place a section of footpath that would allow the other fields that join Atcham to Cross Houses to be footpathed in one complete section.  But I have just been to the presentation by the Mytton & Mermaid management team and they will not be buying the land only leasing it.  This  means that the owners - Longner Estate still own the land and have the final say on what is being proposed.  Having spoken to the Agent representing Longner Estate at this meeting it doesnt look  as though there are any plans right now for Longner to change their existing policy to allow permissive paths on their land.  So we wait for further proposals.  Many of us voiced our thoughts on how good a footpath between Atcham and Cross Houses would be at this latest meeting and maybe some of the decision makers will listen and provide what would be a great community asset in conjunction with the building of the new car park.  Indeed it might be possible to convince Shropshire Council to ask for this to be included in the proposal in order to increase the amount of Active Travel / footpath opportunities for residents in this part of Shropshire.  So it's still all to play for.  

Autumn 2023

Well what do you know - at the last Atcham Parish Council Brunning & Price turned up and proposed pretty much exactly what I had been suggesting for the last 6 months - after I had been told repeatedly by the County Councillor and the Chair of the Parish Council that my proposal was not a sensible idea.  Suddenly the Chair of the Council was pretty much repeating what I had proposed.  Oh well ....I guess if we get there in the end then at least they have come to a more sensible solution than just sticking rocks on decent parking spaces and slapping double yellow lines down - which as I said a few months ago and which was repeated by the Chair of the Parish Council that all that this does is shift the problem somewhere else.  Maybe he had forgotten that I was the one who said it first - it was after all 6 months earlier that I had suggested what is now being proposed.

Summer 2023

The recent rip roaring success of the re-opening of the Mytton & Mermaid has maybe taken some locals by surprise but anyone watching what Brunning and Price got up to as they set to work breathing new life in to this amazing Georgian House should'nt have been surprised.

I was at the last Atcham Parish Council (PC) meeting a couple of months ago (July 2023) when the PC talked about this potemtial issue and decided to 'send a letter' to the Shirehall.

As though this absolved them of the issues now facing local residents - what did they think was going to happen!

I saw this one coming and actually saw this as an opportunity to see if I could not only help Atcham residents with their parking issues but also provide them with a safe walking route by the river to Cross Houses which would avoid having to use the dangerous road between our 2 villages.  By utilising the field known as Atcham Green on the opposite side of the river to the Hotel additional parking could be provided whilst at the same time opening up the land to provide a footpath along the river bank to allow residents to enjoy a pleasant river walk as well providing non vehicular access between our two villages.  Clearly for this to take place the current landowner of Atcham Green will need to take part in this discussion.

As the issue has evolved I have spoken to residents and it seems that the householders that are specifically affected from a direct parking issue point of view are going to be content with the painting of yellow lines on Malthouse Lane to reduce the likelihood of errant parking.  

I am not personally convinced that this will solve the long term parking problems but it is certainly an easier, cheaper and quicker solution than my proposal.  

Will just have to wait and see how things develop over the summer now - I can keep the blog updated on this issue.

And in the meantime some of us are going to be looking at why Atcham Green is called Atcham Green - in general parlance a 'Green' is somewhere that has been made available for use by the local community.