Plans for 450 homes on hold for traffic questions

An application to build 450 homes in Shrewsbury has been deferred to allow questions to be answered.

Barwood Developments put forward proposals to build on land off Ellesmere Road in 2022. They were originally going to be built alongside the proposed North West Relief Road.

But that project has since been put on hold and members of Shropshire Council's planning committee said they wanted more information on the traffic impact of the housing.

The councillors said they also wanted to know more about support for people cycling and walking. The council's highways officers said they were happy for it to go ahead without the controversial relief road.

When the plans were submitted they attracted 134 objections, raising concerns about road safety, the ability of schools and GP surgeries to cope and the loss of greenfield land.

Members of Shropshire Council's Northern Planning Committee spent an hour and a half debating the application when they met on Tuesday.

Ben Jephcott asked for a deferral so the traffic impact could be fully assessed.

Another councillor, Brendan Mallon, said he worried there could be "a lot of rat-running" to get away from congestion on Ellesmere Road.

Principal planning officer Ollie Thomas who recommended the development should be approved said the proposed access had already been looked at and there were no concerns about rat-running.

Sarah Butterfield, who represented the developer, said contributions would be made and there would be connections to the wider cycling and walking networks.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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