Council agrees to repurchase land it wrongly sold

The town council sold the parcel of land in 2017

Shrewsbury Town Council has agreed to repurchase a piece of land that was wrongly sold for development.

It sold part of the Greenfields recreation ground, on Falstaff Street in 2017, but planning permission was later overturned in the Supreme Court.

The council apologised after a judicial review criticised it for not checking whether the land was part of the park.

Following a meeting on Tuesday, councillor Alan Mosley confirmed an agreement had been reached to transfer the ownership back to the town council.

“Shrewsbury Town Council and CSE Developments (Shropshire) Limited have agreed terms of settlement to secure the transfer of ownership of the parcel of land at Greenfields recreation ground back to the town council,” he said.

“The agreement has been reached on a costs only basis, taking into account the best interests of the residents of Shrewsbury while taking note of legal judgements in the courts and the views of those living local to the area.

“Indeed, we have fulfilled promises made and we now look forward to being able to reopen the land as public space as soon as conveyancing is complete and it is safe to do so.”

He said members were unanimous in agreeing the terms of the settlement.

The exact cost has not been revealed, but it was previously confirmed the authority had set aside £614,000 to buy the land, which it had sold for £550,000.

Dr Peter Day is part of the Greenfields Community Group which has led the campaign to protect the land for public use

The green space had originally been purchased in 1926 in two parts by the local authority at the time and held in trust for community use.

It was later transferred to Shrewsbury Town Council in 2010 as part of a shake-up of local government.

It was earmarked for 15 homes after it was sold in 2017, but the move sparked an outcry from residents.

The judicial review found the council failed to take reasonable steps to establish whether the site was part of the recreation ground, which it said it very likely was.

The council said it had put new procedures in place to ensure a similar mistake did not happen again.