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Letter published in the Shrewsbury Chronicle, 8 July

From Selby Martin, Vice-President,  Shropshire CPRE

Your report “Villages ‘could double in size’” (Chronicle, July 2) is based on a situation which no longer applies, and is unnecessarily alarmist.

The housing requirements for Shropshire had been set out in the review of the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy and handed down to us via the Regional Assembly. One of the first actions of the new coalition government was to cancel housing targets, dissolve the Regional Assembly and scrap the Spatial Strategy. Shropshire’s Core Strategy and Local Development Framework must therefore be back in the melting pot.

This will forestall plans to double the size of villages, along with other aspects of Shropshire’s Core Strategy which would no longer comply with new government policy. It makes sense. There would be no employment in those villages like Cressage, Condover or Church Stretton for the people coming to live in the new housing and the distinctive character of these and other villages would be lost.

A basic principle of the coalition government’s planning policy is that local communities should determine the pattern of new development in their locality. Shropshire Council attach importance to seeking residents’ views, as they have shown in the consultation over their document “Site Allocations and Management of  Development”. It is now up to them to ascertain what local communities actually want rather than an opinion on where and in which direction a centrally imposed housing allocation is to go.

We believe that a first priority for rural areas is the provision of affordable housing to meet established local need. New housing may well be needed in villages, but its quantity and distribution should not be determined from above. CPRE will vigorously campaign against unnecessary greenfield development and support residents who are anxious to maintain the character of the places where they are privileged to live.

Letter published in the Shropshire Star 6 July

From Andy Boddington, Chairman, CPRE Shropshire

Jake Berriman is reported as saying there is no need to halt work on the county planning strategy as a result of the policy changes brought in by the new government.

He is wrong. The recently finalised county plan, known as the Core Strategy, was based on a set of policy conditions that not longer apply. Work not only must be halted, all the work to date must be reviewed and overhauled.

The Core Strategy is very clear about how its priorities are derived. It says: “Whilst it is important that the Core Strategy reflects the views and aspirations of local communities, it should also be remembered that there are other factors and established priorities that must be taken into account.”

These factors and priorities include “regional planning policy… including a range of targets for housing, employment, land, minerals and waste.” Regional planning policies have now been abolished by national government, as have the housing targets. In planning terms, the Core Strategy is now “unsound” because it is based on policies no longer in effect.

There are more than planning reasons for revisiting the Core Strategy. Jake Berriman claims the Core Strategy has been developed on the basis of “close engagement with local people.” The Council may have engaged with communities, but it has rarely listened to them. There are few in Shropshire who desire the high levels of housing development proposed.

Only Shirehall wants Shrewsbury to expand to become a sub-regional sprawl. Few people believe that large tin sheds on the edge of Shrewsbury and our market towns will bring prosperity to the county.

These developments are being imposed on Shropshire largely because the Council has been legally beholden to the West Midlands regional plan. That plan has been abolished and Shropshire Council is no longer under its spell.

The Council must now thoroughly revise its plans, which are unsound in planning terms and unsound as a blueprint for the well-being of Shropshire and its people.