Disappointing start to the week having it confirmed that two of the three outstanding housing planning applications to be determined in West Felton will be going to the next Northern Planning meeting, both recommended for approval. Alma Close and Land North of Old Rectory Gardens, I believe. But I doubt the other at The Nursery will be far behind. As I know more I will post further.
Particularly disappointing news for local residents, when arguably none of these three would have seen the light of day if the last council had delivered a sound local plan and maintained a 5-year housing land supply. This policy gap continues to cause a lot of discomfort and annoyance right across the county.
Speaking as the portfolio holder for planning, which is a strategic role that doesn’t have a role in determining individual applications, officers and I are working extremely hard to get robust plan made. The formal 30-month local plan process starts in September – the fastest ever process in Shropshire – but little comfort in the meantime. These issue do underline the grave impact of the failure of the last administration to delivery a sound plan. A failure that has since been brutally exposed by the Government’s high mandatory housing targets.
Why withdrawing plan was profoundly bad for Shropshire
The Conservatives don’t seem to like their failures being highlighted. Be that squandering public money on crazy shopping centre purchases, failed commercial brainwaves like IP&E, their unfunded capital projects like the now aborted North West Relief Road (NWRR). One of their most profoundly damaging and lasting legacies though is their failure to deliver a sound local plan.
The chart makes the key point visually: the entire lifecycle of the withdrawn Local Plan Review occurred during a period of almost continuous National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) revision, whereas Core Strategy and SAMDev were prepared under significantly more stable policy regimes.
Fundamentally, failure came down to resources. There were 25 officers working on SamDev, the withdrawn plan had 3 with 2 seconded officers. At the same time NPPF changes gave officers an unprecedented challenge. The impact can be seen in the timeline above. The process was drawn out so much that the ground shifted beneath officer’s multiple times. Nearly 9 years. The Conservatives under resourced a critical policy document while nationally they were moving the goal posts. Now they try to make out that they were given bad advice, when reality shows they were asleep at the wheel with no grip on reality, policy or the councils finances.
The local plan is a critical policy document that shapes where development goes, based on evidence and need. The withdrawn plan means it is open season for development where ordinarily policy would prevent it. Now settlements across the county are being bombarded by speculative applications in the wrong places, fundamentally and permanently changing the shape of communities. Delivering a sound plan is a serious businesses and they didn’t give the process the support it or Shropshire needed. A gross unforgivable failure being felt in every corner of Shropshire. This open wound won’t be fully closed until the new local plan is made in 2029.
NPPF updates
•NPPF introduced (2012)
•Major NPPF revision (2018)
•NPPF update (2019)
•NPPF update (2021)
•NPPF update (September 2023)
•NPPF update (December 2023)
•Major reform package and revised housing methodology (December 2024)
•NPPF update (December 2025)
