Affordable homes outside town given green light

The properties would range from one to four beds

A scheme to build 32 affordable homes near Shrewsbury has been given the green light.

Plans were submitted by Morro Partnerships in June 2024 for land south of Holyhead Road in Bicton, including access and landscaping.

A design statement said it would feature one- to four-bed properties, with 100 per cent affordable housing.

Shropshire Council planning officer Jane Raymond said there was a lack of existing affordable homes and the proposal would meet a "significant local need sited in a sustainable location."

She added that the proposal was acceptable in size and layout, and would have no adverse effect on existing residential amenity.

Bicton Parish Council objected to the scheme, stating it was outside the agreed site allocations boundary from the local plan.

On the Shrewsbury West Sustainable Urban Extension (SWSUE) masterplan, the area was designated as part of the health village.

The SWSUE features a proposal to deliver about 750 new homes, together with up to 12 hectares of employment land, a new Oxon Link Road between the A5 bypass and Holyhead Road, and a new expanded local centre.

"The road access will be onto a 60mph, straight road where vehicles are known to speed," a parish council spokesperson said.

"It is filling the green space between Shrewsbury and Bicton, and Bicton Parish Council had been assured that this would not happen.

"There is no evidence of the need for so many affordable houses in Bicton parish. With such high-density housing there will not be enough off-road car parking spaces."

The plans state that all homes would have a minimum of two parking spaces, excluding the one-bed maisonettes, which would have one space.

Four on-street visitor parking spaces would also be placed throughout the site.