Little Wenlock bungalow plans rejected after residents object

A plan to build four ‘affordable’ homes in a Shropshire village has been rejected after residents rose up to object.

Resource management company Veolia wanted permission in principle to build bungalows on its former waste site off Church Hill, in New Works, west of Lawley in Telford.

But concerned residents reacted in big numbers as people from 19 addresses in the tiny community told Telford & Wrekin Council planners that the area would be ruined if approval was granted.

One former resident of the community who now lives in Lanark, Scotland, joined in the chorus of disapproval which has now been supported by the planning department.

“As a fourth-generation family from New Works, we have deep ties to the village and its heritage,” wrote one objector.

“Throughout our family’s lifetime, there has never been a demonstrated need for further development here.”

Another objector said more building is “just not right” and the community appeared “pretty united in this”.

They urged planners to continue to be their “safety net”.

Another objector wrote that New Works has already taken the brunt of Lawley’s expansion through “the traffic, the disruption, and a clear rise in anti-social behaviour that never existed before”.

This was supported by another resident who wrote that he was 80 years old and concerned about more traffic.

“I have had many near misses from speeding cars over the last 40-odd years with cars now going faster and more of them on the ‘lanes. More homes would be a disaster,” they wrote.

“I am now 80 and cannot climb the verges to get out of the way of speeding cars when I walk the dog.”

Planning agent Heatons, of Derby, had told council planners that the Veolia site is redundant.

The agent wrote that four affordable self-build bungalows would “benefit both the company and the local community”.

“The proposal will make a positive contribution to affordable housing within the rural area, by providing four affordable dwellings on this site which is identified as appropriate for residential development.”

The agent had told the council that New Works “can be considered to be a sustainable location within the rural context of Telford”.

But council planners disagreed with the agent’s assessment, finding that the applicant had not provided evidence that the homes met a local need.

Planners wrote that New Works is considered to be an “unsustainable location due to its lack of facilities.”

They added that the council will only support small scale affordable housing schemes if the proposal meets an identified local housing need.

“Officers have not been provided with sufficient evidence to demonstrate that there is an identified local housing need,” planners wrote.

“Additionally, whilst some weight can be given to the provision of self-build dwellings, the self-build status of the development would not override the requirement to comply with adopted policies.”