Power station homes plan rejected by councillors

Plans to build up to 1,000 homes on the site of a former power station have been rejected by councillors.

The Harworth Group bought the site in the Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire, in 2018 and also applied to build a retirement village, school, railway link and shops.

Shropshire Council turned the plans down over concerns about traffic, a lack of healthcare in the area and the number of affordable homes.

The power station closed in 2015.

Harworth Group had offered to pay out more than £16m to Shropshire Council and Telford and Wrekin Council to fund road improvements, landscaping and sports pitches.

The sum also included £5.1m for a new primary school, £4.4m to expand a nearby secondary school and £500,000 to build a new medical centre.

Shropshire's Clinical Commissioning Group had originally asked for twice that amount and said the existing surgeries were already at full capacity.

Councillors, who had asked for 20% of the new homes to be affordable, said the 5% being offered by the group was not enough.

But Harworth Group, told the meeting "financially, we have nothing more we can offer".

The company said there was a possibility of more affordable homes being made available later on and said 5% was the best it could do, because of the costs of clearing the former industrial land.

But local resident David Turner, who spoke at the planning meeting, said: "My concerns are that tax payers money may be used to fill the gap."

He also said he feared the council is in a difficult position, because the former power station had been the biggest business rates contributor in the county.

It took the 10 councillors about three hours to reach their conclusion. They were meeting again after they failed to approve the scheme for 1,000 new homes and a raft of community facilities back in June.

Seven voted to reject, three to approve.

The reasons came down to highways issues, healthcare concerns - new homes mean more people moving in and they need a doctor - and the issue around affordable housing.

Shropshire's own rules state 200 affordable homes should be built on a site this size - Harworth argue they can only afford to build 50.

There was some movement on this but very late in the day. A letter was sent to the council from Homes England. They said they may be able to provide the additional 15% of affordable homes but as Severn Valley Councillor Clare Wild said - they may not.

There were a lot of ifs, buts and maybes around this application.

There'll now be a lengthy and expensive legal battle - councillors may have to defend their decisions personally - they say they're prepared to do that.

As for the developers Harworth, they said - financially, they have nothing more we can offer. They have done their best.

A report which went before Shropshire councillors said the new housing development could generate an extra £1.7m in council tax payments, plus £520,000 in business rates.

Councillor Andy Boddington, from the local authority, said after the result: "It's a big scheme and it's a big battle to get it right.

"We're not fighting against the developer, we're just fighting for the right scheme."

He acknowledged the decision may go to an appeal.

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