Wem: Edinburgh House site will be redeveloped after appeal

The site has also previously been occupied by police and Wem Town Council

Developers have won an appeal, granting them permission to create 28 homes on the site of a former council office.

At the same time, housing group Connexus withdrew smaller-scale plans to turn Edinburgh House in Wem, Shropshire, into apartments.

An application to partially clear the site and build 28 homes was refused by Shropshire Council in April 2023.

The developer now has permission to demolish two-thirds of the building and convert the rest of it.

The scheme will see 10 homes built on the cleared land, while the remainder of the former North Shropshire District Council headquarters will be turned into apartments and office space.

The second floor of the building will become updated offices for Connexus itself.

Amanda Knowles, head of development at the company, said she was pleased the appeal had been successful and that the plans would result in "28 much-needed new affordable homes close to the town centre, helping to regenerate this part of the town".

She said they would include one and two-bed apartments and two, three and four-bed houses.

Shropshire Council had originally rejected the scheme due to open space and noise concerns, but a government planning inspector decided in favour of Connexus in a ruling on 24 January.

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

An earlier version of this story referred only to the withdrawal of the smaller scheme, without referring to the larger one now approved.