Plans for new homes to be built on the outskirts of Church Stretton have been approved after councillors said a housing shortage in the town needed to be addressed.
Planning officers had recommended that the application, for land near Springbank Farm, be refused on the grounds that the site lies outside the town’s development boundary.
But members of Shropshire Council’s southern planning committee said five properties on the former campsite would not cause significant harm to its surroundings and would contribute towards the town’s housing targets.
Church Stretton lies within the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), meaning extra consideration has to be given to any developments and how they might impact this protected setting.
The town does however have target of 370 new properties to be built between 2006 and 2026, and the latest figures from 2019 show there were 275 houses either completed or with planning permission at that point.
There are no allocated housing sites in Church Stretton in the council’s new local plan, so the town is reliant on small ‘windfall sites’ to provide all new housing.
Statements were read to the committee confirming the support of the town council and Church Stretton’s two Shropshire councillors, David Evans and Lee Chapman, for the development.
Councillor Cecilia Motley said: “We are in a rather peculiar situation in Church Stretton where, rather than being inundated with housing in the new and upcoming local plan, they are being bereft of housing, having had two fairly large sites withdrawn.
“This is not a large application, it’s for five houses. It appears to be sustainable insofar as it’s near designated employment land, and I think it will at least go some way towards making an effort to meet the shortfall of housing in Church Stretton.”
Not everyone was convinced, with Councillor David Turner saying he trusted the judgement of planning officers that he current shortage would “remedy itself”.
The committee voted to approve the outline application by five votes to three, with one abstention.
Members also requested that the application for reserved matters, covering the layout of the scheme, design of the homes and landscaping, come back before the committee rather than be decided by officers.
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