Author: David Tooley - Local Democracy Reporter

Three Telford town centre car parks – one disused and the other two currently active – could be turned over for development if major issues can be overcome.

Some 158 houses could take the land at the Blue Willow car park while another 138 could be built on the next door Lime Green Car Park (Odeon cinema).

A decision-making committee meeting in Telford was halted when only two out of its 10 members managed to make it to the council chamber.

The rules require three councillors to be present to make decisions. 

Potential developers of a vacant site close to Newport town centre have withdrawn plans to build nine homes to consider options following council feedback.

Staffordshire-based MAG Developments Ltd has told Telford & Wrekin Council planners that it is “disappointed and perplexed” by the council’s feedback about requirements for the site.

A couple’s plan to have a basement at their proposed replacement home in the Ironbridge Gorge have been withdrawn after…

A plan to convert an historic Newport building into a dental surgery with flats has been withdrawn after heritage concerns were raised.

Britannia House Dental Surgery is planning to move from New Street in Newport into a Grade II-listed three-storey building in St Mary’s Street in the town centre.

The plans for an HMO in Donnington have been withdrawn for a second time, but it may not be the end of the story…

Planners have refused permission for a high-tech BT Street Hub in Telford town centre, saying it would have an “unacceptable impact on highway and pedestrian safety”.

The street hub would have been on land next to Coffee #1 in Northfield Street, near the southern entrance to Telford Centre.

A Telford couple have been told by a planning inspector that they can only sell their £500,000 home to an agricultural worker.

The sale particulars state that the house is a five bedroom, three bathroom “unique family home set within approximately three acres of paddocks and woodland.”

Objectors claimed that there would not be enough parking at the property in Bridle Walk, Donnington, to prevent visitors from having to park on the street.

Donnington and Muxton Parish Council had organised a children’s party for under-13s at Turreff Hall earlier this month and had posted a limited number of pictures on social media.

Councillor Sonja Randhawa (Muxton Ward) said: “I just think this is a potential safeguarding issue.”

One three-bed bungalow on the edge of Bowring Park could become two if a housing company’s plan to replace a property in Wellington is passed by planners.

Telford-based Wrekin Housing Group has applied to council planners to knock down its unoccupied three-bed bungalow in Haygate Road and replace it with two semi-detached three-bed properties.

A local resident told officials at Telford & Wrekin Council that Churncote in Stirchley “is a small family street with inadequate parking for the current residents”.

They added that proposing to add six cars to one household is “ridiculous and will cause more issues”.

Familiar divisions reopened as councillors clashed over housebuilding targets in Telford and Wrekin. Telford & Wrekin Council’s Conservative opposition leader…

Health and safety rules are proving to be an insurmountable obstacle when it comes to hanging a ‘Merry Christmas’ sign from a bridge in Telford, a meeting heard.

The sign at a pedestrian and cycle bridge over Britannia Way in Hadley had been a feature of the festive season and its absence has prompted comments and speculation on social media.

One of the proposals, for a property in Donnington, will return to Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning committee for a second time after councillors deferred a decision to go on a site visit.

The other plan for a home for up to three children in Dothill saw 57 objections, including from Wellington Town Council, and was called in to be decided at Wednesday’s meeting by councillor Karen Tomlinson (Liberal Democrats, Shawbirch & Dothill).

Homeowners in a village near Newport are in ‘major distress’ over back garden flooding caused by a ‘brick and tree stumps’ blocking a pipe which has been going on for a year, says a councillor.

Councillor Eade says it severely floods gardens to a ‘considerable depth when it overflows due to the blockage.’ and urged Severn Trent to get on with the job.

Ann Lombardi, who chairs the trustees at Four Hills Education Trust, told councillors at Hadley and Leegomery Parish Council that Millbrook Primary School and Nursery is a part of the trust which held a launch event recently.

The water tests recorded that for the “chemical parameters analysed, no pollution was identified”.

A spokesperson for the EA said: “We understand local concerns and our officers have responded by testing the water in July and September which showed there was no pollution in the brook.

“The Hurley Brook is not a designated bathing water and is unlikely to become one due to its location being within the urban area of Telford.”

Developers who built two bungalows in Telford nearly 10 inches higher than approved have been allowed to keep the ground level changes, despite objections.

Residents and St George’s and Priorslee Parish Council objected to the retrospective application from Ashlee Homes for the properties in Freeston Avenue, St Georges.

Councillors at Hadley & Leegomery Parish Council have pulled the plug on the controversial sale of Hadley Cemetery Lodge.

A meeting was told that a bid made for the lodge, in Hadley Park Road, fell though partly because of a campaign against the sale by “saboteurs” but also that the council’s finances have improved.

A Telford-based care company has applied to the council to change the use of a house in Leegomery to use it for supported living for young people.

Everready Health and Social Care Solutions plans to use the two storey mid-terrace property for up to three residents, aged 16-25, ‘when they are ready to live independently in the community.’

A Shropshire hospitals chief has told other county health leaders that everything is “on track” for their winter preparations.

The board of NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin heard that a key date is Monday, December 1, when new beds and arrangements at the acute hospitals in Shrewsbury and Telford start to become available.

Woodcote Quarry, at Woodcote, straddles the border of Telford & Wrekin Council’s and Shropshire Council’s areas and operator NRS Aggregates Limited has applied to both planning authorities to extend its life by 10 years to 2045.

A decision from Shropshire Council, the lead authority, is awaited but Telford & Wrekin Council has set down 28 conditions to deal with dust, protection of water from pollution and other matters.

The Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) service is being decommissioned and phased out by the end of November. The phone- and email-based system was introduced in 2016/17 to help reduce medicine waste.

But a review found that it duplicated what some GP practices and the NHS app was already doing. Its cost on the local health and care system was put at more than £1 million each year.

A furniture shop in Telford is set to be turned into a gym if planners approve the move.

Agents for the owners of Telford Bridge Retail Park at Colliers Way say there is an agreement with a gym operator to take the unit.

Shropshire’s fire service has been hit by an un-anticipated £400,000 increase in its rates bill after work at Telford’s fire station increased the value of the property, a meeting was told.

“That figure is currently with a consultant who is working on an appeal on that number to verify that that number is in fact correct.” said Joanne Coadey, the head of finance at the fire authority.