Two new developments totalling more than 60 homes approved for village

More than 60 houses are set to be built in a village near Oswestry after two separate developments were granted planning permission within days of each other.

The schemes in Whittington have been given the green light by Shropshire Council planning officers and will see 39 houses built behind the village primary school and another 24 on a site off Penybryn Avenue.

Approval of the larger development comes after the revelation earlier this month that rival plans for the same plot of land had been withdrawn, following local concern about the proposed access onto Station Road.

Under the approved scheme put forward by Shingler Homes Ltd, the new homes will instead be accessed from the B5009.

The proposals represent phases two and three of a wider masterplan for the site. The first phase, for 34 homes, was approved in 2019 and is currently under construction by the same developer.

Four of the properties will be ‘affordable homes’, and the developer will make a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) contribution of nearly £562,000 towards local services, including increasing capacity at the school.

An area of public open space will also be provided, along with a dedicated 16-space car park for the school, which currently shares a car park with the community centre.

A report by planning officer Philip Mullineux concluded: “It is considered that development of the site in principle is acceptable, scale, design and layout of the proposed dwellings considered acceptable along with drainage, public highway access and transportation issues.

“The applicants indication with regards to car parking alongside the school complies with the council’s (development plan) policy in relation to this requirement.

“Matters in relation to the historic environment, biodiversity and landscape and visual impact also considered acceptable. Issues in relation to residential amenity and privacy also considered acceptable.”

Meanwhile to the north of the village, officers have approved a development put forward by Shropshire Towns and Rural (STAR) Housing – the council’s arms-length social housing provider – for 24 affordable homes.

The proposals include 10 bungalows and 14 houses, which the developer says will be “high-tech” and energy efficient.

The site, off Penybryn Avenue, is outside the development boundary for the village and therefore in ‘opn countryside’ for planning purposes, meaning new developments are usually resisted – though exceptions can be made for 100 per cent affordable schemes which meet an identified local need.

A report by planning officer Llinos Pinches said: “The affordable housing team acknowledge that there is a need for affordable homes in Whittington, and it is requested that any new housing be tailored to the identified need by the recent housing need survey ‘Right Home, Right Place’.

“The principle of 100 per cent affordable housing at this location is accepted subject to satisfactory and adequate consideration to landscape and visual impact and impacts in relation to the surrounding historic environment.

“A legal agreement in the form of a ‘Section 106 agreement’ will be completed to ensure that the tenure of all the properties are retained in perpetuity as 100 per cent affordable housing for local people within the community, meeting with the local policy plan requirements.”

The report also acknowledged the concerns raised by nearby residents in relation to road safety, but concluded: “The highways team concluded there was insufficient highway safety issue to warrant refusal of the development, subject to relevant conditions being included with the decision.”