This is your chance to comment on this alternative housing site for Shifnal. Your feedback could alter Shropshire Council’s plans to allocate land on the west/south-west of Shifnal and re-direct growth to the east, adjacent to proposed new employment space and current new housing development.
WELCOME
In response to the review of the Shropshire Local Plan, Nurton Developments is promoting the land to the south east of Shifnal for the development of an exciting new garden village to meet the future housing needs of Shifnal.
The site is being promoted as a more sustainable and practically positioned alternative to the current preferred option that lies to the South/South West of the town.
Nurton became aware of the availability of the property in 2019. The opportunity has not, therefore, formed part of the earlier rounds of consultation as no approach had been made to the land owners by the Council to identify if it could be included within their review of the growth requirements for Shifnal as part of the current plan review.
Having undertaken its own review of the growth needs of Shifnal and compared the current preferred option with this opportunity, Nurton soon recognised that the ‘system’ had missed what could be an excellent, and far more sustainable, location to deliver an exemplar scheme for the town.
THE SITE
The site has the potential to deliver up to 800 dwellings which could include a mix of starter homes, homes for the elderly as well as affordable and market housing.
To compliment this and to ensure that a sustainable community is created, views are being sought on the need for facilities such as a primary school, local convenience shopping, petrol filling station, medical/dental practice and other uses.
Based on the principles of a garden village, the concept of development revolves around the creation of large areas of public open space to provide ample areas of recreation for both new and existing residents.
Being located immediately adjacent to the new developments currently under construction to the east of the town, the development will integrate fully with the existing network of footpaths and cycleways providing excellent connectivity with the town centre.
Key amongst its benefits “however” is the ability for the development to bring much needed traffic improvements to the town. The site straddles Upton Lane which everyone locally knows is used as a ‘rat run’ to link between the A464 Wolverhampton Road and Stanton Road which in turn links with Junction 3 of the M54. Currently heavy good vehicles are committed to passing through the town centre along the narrow Aston Road to link between these two strategic road corridors.
The site is deliverable, particularly in terms of landscape and heritage considerations, and with minimal impact on the Green Belt
The site should be considered as a serious alternative to that being promoted by the Council for the town’s future housing needs
If the site is brought forward earlier in the Local Plan process substantial highways improvements could be delivered sooner thus alleviating pressures on the town centre sooner
The Vision Statement is accompanied by detailed technical reports addressing the key issues, including Design, Highways, Sustainability, Ecology, Heritage, Landscape and Green Belt
“There are no brownfield sites large enough or suitable within Shifnal to accommodate the required number of houses for the next near twenty years. Government policy requires every council to identify suitable sites for development and, more importantly, for councils to co-operate with each other where space is at a premium already”
“Given that Shifnal is completely surrounded by green belt it is inevitable that some encroachment will be necessary in order to meet Shifnal’s future housing needs, both in quantity and quality.”
