College will build 60 room boarding house after plans approved

A Shropshire boarding school is set to expand after its plans to build a 60-bedroom boarding house were approved.

Planners gave the green light to a scheme by Concord College to add a three storey boarding house with en suite bedrooms, staff accommodation and car parking at its Acton Burnell site, around 10 miles out of Shrewsbury.

The college says it needs to develop new accommodation to consolidate and improve its facilities for around 530 pupils at the school, of which 80% are full time boarders.

The scheme had been called in to Shropshire Council’s planning committee after an objection from Acton Burnell Parish Council ran contrary to the planning officer’s decision to recommend the scheme for approval.

The parish council said they strongly objected to the proposal, citing the “severely negative impact” of the design and placement of the building,  – adding that other siting options for the building had not been fully explored.

“The [parish] Council is not opposed to the principle of building a new boarding house on the College site, however the scale, nature and location of the proposed development close to the road would have a severely negative impact on the natural and historic environment of Acton Burnell,” they said.

They said they feared the building would “dominate” the skyline of the village, impacting on the adjacent Conservation Area and overshadowing the views and heritage buildings of the village.

However planners at Shropshire Council said the scheme was acceptable in principle, as it provided “specialist housing provision for an identified need that appropriately expands an established business within its existing site.”

“Whilst the proposed boarding house would be visible from outside the campus and could not be fully screened, it has been identified that a building of this scale is required and it is of a commensurate scale with the adjacent boarding houses,” the officer’s report concluded.

“The development would not adversely impact on the character and appearance of heritage assets or their settings and would provide enhanced landscaping appropriate to the surrounding parkland.”

Speaking as the committee approved the application, Councillor Ed Potter said he understood the concerns of the parish council, but could not see a reason to object to the proposal on planning grounds.

“Concord is the dominant feature of a small village where it’s nigh on impossible for local people to get on the housing ladder, I note that as a concern,” he said.

“From a planning point of view I can’t see a reason to object to this application but I do see the concerns of the parish council and the dominance that this is having on a village which is quite small.”

The scheme was approved unanimously by the council’s southern planning committee.