A month has passed since the election. I am now routinely sending monthly reports to both West Felton and Whittington parish councils on my activities. So I will provide an aggregated report here as well as an overview of what I am up to on your behalf. Specific noteworthy issues will be picked out elsewhere in other posts as they happen.
This month has largely been a month for members to get their feet under the table, particularly for the newer members. Full Council has taken place, so everyone has been appointed to various roles and responsibilities. As previously reported, I am now the Cabinet member responsible for Planning. I have had various meetings with officers to dig into my responsibilities. Specifically these are:
- Local Plan, Development Management,
- Planning Policy,
- Enforcement,
- CIL,
- Building Control,
- Natural and Historic Environment.
Following last month’s meetings, I have taken up the long-standing outstanding issues with officers at Shropshire Council and National Highways. I have worked and will continue to work to unblock Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) spending where Shropshire Council have been blocking progress for one reason or another, particularly those where both West Felton and Whittington have money set aside to deliver a project. The CIL Local fund isn’t working effectively, and I have asked officers to review its operation. I have also requested more transparency in the process and that things be communicated back to parishes, whether good or bad news, rather than nothing. The Internal Infrastructure Group (IIG) was an officer group with no member input that allocated CIL Local funds. I have said that needs to change. CIL funds need to be released to enable projects to proceed.
On the Local Plan, officers have set out their timetable for the new draft plan. They are waiting for new government guidance before they formally commence the 30-month preparation period, but they have been gathering evidence in readiness. They expect to start next year with the adoption in Autumn 2028. This process needs to be in line with the latest National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Shropshire Council know their overall housing target thanks to the National Standard Needs Assessment methodology. However, they must review the settlement hierarchy and site allocations in light of the NPPF changes. As such, there will be a new call for sites, and this will take place imminently. Again, I have asked that there is more member involvement in this, where previously there was none, with better publicity when the call is made. I have also asked officers to promote Neighbourhood Plans more.
Cabinet meets next Wednesday (tomorrow) for the first time with a number of items on the agenda. Most notably: the financial outturn for 2024/25 and Telecare charging structure consultation. The outturn is worse than previously reported, with £60m of savings now being needed. Two-thirds of which are savings that weren’t delivered last year. The Cabinet will consider changes to Telecare to bring us more in line with other councils.
For my portfolio, the Cabinet will consider an application from Bayston Hill PC to define a Neighbourhood Plan area. Bayston Hill Parish Council cite the lack of a local plan as the reason for their application. A growing number of councils are now talking to Shropshire Council with a view to applying to the council to define their plan areas. A community steering group can be established once the cabinet approves a plan area. Yet, grant funding for 2025/26 has not been announced. I have asked Julia Buckley MP and Helen Morgan MP to tackle the government about the grants as a matter of urgency.
I have written to the Police and Crime Commissioner to ask why West Mercia had a lower profile online for Operation Sceptre – the national campaign to cut knife crime. I also asked why PCSO hours were changing, with shifts finishing at 8 pm. As I understand it, the PCSO who revealed this has now been suspended. In the PCC’s reply, he pointed out that the consultation was internal, so he couldn’t reveal much beyond the evidence that antisocial behaviour incidents drop off dramatically after 8pm. But as we know, rural crime doesn’t stop at night.
Over the month, the new administration has been setting out its priorities and how they are addressing them.
- Fixing more potholes and improving the state of Shropshire’s 3,200 miles of roads
- Improving customer service across the council, making it more responsive and easier to do business with
- Better and closer working with town and parish councils, who can help take on some services from Shropshire Council, or may be better placed to find simple solutions to issues in their area.
Actions so far:
- The Deputy Leader has written to all parish clerks asking for their views on closer working and how we can work together to deliver for Shropshire. Hopefully, the cultural change will soon be more visible.
- Announced a new pothole repair crew has been added to the repair team. This extra team is employed directly by Shropshire Council, not Keir.
- If you use the park-and-ride in Shrewsbury, you might like to know that, from the end of June, the frequency will increase to a bus every 12 minutes instead of 20 minutes.
- Catching more pupils who are entitled to Free School Meals who are missed by the system by leveraging the benefits system when people apply for other benefits
This month’s casework has again been focused on planning, mainly Park Hall and the BESS application at Rednal. I have asked a Sound Engineer we use at work to cast his eye over the Noise Impact Assessment for the Battery Storage application. I have been in touch with officers at Oswestry Town Council and Shropshire Council about the Taxi Ranks in Oswestry. Other issues tackled have been the Whittington Road A5 junction with National Highways, Whittington Cemetery bins, Oswestry Boys and Girls Grassroots football club, roadworks, Queens Head junction with National Highways, the need for a blind spot mirror at the Heath Houses junction on Rednal straight, the non-functioning VAS on the A5 at Queens Head and chasing officers for various site meetings across both parishes.
