Shropshire Council

Local Plan Review – Preferred Sites Consultation

  • Period: 29 November 2018 - 08 February 2019
  • Status: Closed
  • Audiences: Everyone
  • Topics: Asset management, Planning
  • Type: Public

The ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation Document:

  • Outlines a housing policy direction to improve the delivery of local housing needs;
  • Establishes development guidelines and development boundaries for Shrewsbury, the Principal and Key Centres and each proposed Community Hub and;
  • Sets out the preferred sites to deliver the preferred scale and distribution of housing and employment growth during the period 2016 to 2036.

The ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation will run from Thursday 29 November 2018 to Friday 8 February 2019. Please note that the closing date has been amended, so the closing date of 31 January published in the attached supporting documents should now be disregarded.

Select the 'Get involved' tab to find out how to complete and submit your questionnaire.

Purpose of the Local Plan Review

Local Planning Authorities are required to keep under review any matters that may affect the development of its area. Shropshire Council has determined to undertake a Local Plan Review in order to:

  • Allow the consideration of updated information on development needs within the County;
  • Reflect changes to national policy and our local strategies;
  • Extend the Plan period to 2036; and
  • To provide a plan which will help to support growth and maintain local control over planning decisions during the period to 2036.

Maintaining an up to date Local Plan will support local growth by generating certainty for investment in local development and infrastructure. The Local Plan will achieve this by providing a policy framework that establishes an up to date and objective assessment of development needs and supports sustainable development in Shropshire during the period to 2036.

Progress on the Local Plan Review

There have been two previous stages of consultation on the Local Plan Review:

  • Issues and Strategic Options

The Issues and Strategic Options Consultation occurred between Monday 23rd January 2017 and Monday 20th March 2017.

This consultation sought views from all parties on the key issues and strategic options for the Local Plan Review; it covered the following strategic options:

  1. Housing requirement;
  2. Strategic distribution of future growth;
  3. Strategies for employment growth; and
  4. Delivering development in rural settlements.

During the Issues and Strategic Options Consultation, a total of 412 respondents commented. Respondents included individuals; businesses; landowners; Town and Parish Councils; representatives of the development industry; organisations; neighbouring Authorities; and statutory consultees.

  • Preferred Scale and Distribution of Development

The Preferred Scale and Distribution of Development Consultation occurred between Friday 27th October and Friday 22nd December 2017. This consultation sought views from all parties on the preferred scale and distribution of development for the Local Plan Review which:

  1. Set out the preferred scale of housing and employment development in Shropshire 2016-36;
  2. Set out the preferred distribution of this growth;
  3. Identified housing and employment growth guidelines for the Strategic Centre and each Principal and Key Centre;
  4. Confirmed the methodology which Shropshire Council proposes to adopt to identify a settlement hierarchy in Shropshire;
  5. Listed the settlements which form part of this hierarchy, including those that will, in future, be identified as Community Hubs and those that will be maintained as Community Clusters;
  6. Proposed draft policies for the management of development within Community Hubs and Community Clusters; and
  7. Identified other development requirements which may need to be addressed as part of the Local Plan Review.

During the Preferred Scale and Distribution of Development Consultation, a total of 591 respondents commented. Respondents included individuals; businesses; landowners; Town and Parish Councils; representatives of the development industry; organisations; neighbouring Authorities; and statutory consultees.

Consultation plan

A consultation plan has been produced to inform this consultation, it is available using this link.

The ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation will run from Thursday 29 November 2018 to Friday 8 February 2019.

The consultation will be undertaken in line with the standards set out in the Council’s published Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and national guidance.

Consultation documents will be available on the Shropshire Council website, and paper copies may be viewed at Shropshire Libraries and the main Shropshire Council Offices.

A significant number of organisations and individuals (there are approximately 4,000 contacts made up of local and national organisations, individuals, parish and town councils, adjoining authorities (including adjoining parish and town councils), statutory bodies (such as the Environment Agency), agents and developers, interest groups, and anyone who has asked to be consulted will be notified directly of the publication of the consultation documents by email in accordance with the SCI.

The Council will also inform Shropshire’s Parish and Town Councils via the Association for Local Councils (ALC).

The consultation plan identifies those meetings which will be attended by Shropshire Council Planning Policy Officers. Where resources permit, the Planning Policy Officers may hold further meetings at the Shirehall, Shrewsbury with representatives of Parish or Town Councils to discuss in more detail, particular consultation proposals of interest to their community.

Consultation events

In using limited resources effectively, we have held public meetings and delivered presentations regarding the consultation in Shropshire’s main towns.

Please see below for copies of the presentations given at these events.

Please note that the purpose of the presentations was to raise matters of principle for consideration by the local community and their elected representatives and to direct attention to the consultation documents and evidence base available on the Council web-site. The presentation itself does not form part of the evidence for the Local Plan review and does not seek to be an authoritative statement of the Council's preferred strategy for each area or for the county as a whole. To view more detailed information, please look at the attached consultation documents: 

You may also wish to look at the evidence which has helped to inform the Council’s preferred options:

Evidence base

The Local Plan Review will be informed by an extensive evidence base which will be made available on the Shropshire Council website evidence base page.

Supporting assessments

  • Sustainability appraisal

The ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation, which represents the third stage of consultation on the Local Plan Review, has been subject to a Sustainability Appraisal in line with the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations, 2004.

A Sustainability Appraisal Summary Report; Sustainability Appraisal Report; and the Appendices of the Sustainability Appraisal Report are available to download using the the links in the text, or at the bottom of the page..

  • Habitats regulations assessment

The ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation, which represents the third stage of consultation on our Local Plan Review, has been screened under The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations, 2010 (as amended).

A Habitats Regulations Summary Report; Habitats Regulations Report (including Appendix 2 and 3); and the separate documents containing Appendix 1, Appendix 4 and Appendix 5 of the Habitats Regulations Report are available at to download using the links in the text, or at the bottom of the page.

  • Equality and Social Inclusion Impact Assessment

The ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation, which represents the third stage of consultation on our Local Plan Review, has been subject to an Equality and Social Inclusion Impact Assessment. The assessment is available using this link.

Call for gypsy and traveller sites

Alongside the ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation, Shropshire Council is undertaking a ‘Call for Sites’ to identify sites available to meet the potential accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers. If you are aware of a site that you consider may be appropriate to meet these needs, please provide relevant details using the ‘Call for Sites’ Form available on the Shropshire Council website by following this link.

Documents

You can download a copy of the complete ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation Document and complete ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation Questionnaire using the links provided under the 'Proposal' tab.

For convenience, we have also provided a copy of both the ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation Document and ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation Questionnaire divided into Place Plan Areas.

Please Note: If, when completing the Consultation Questionnaire, your answer requires more space than allowed, please feel free to continue on a separate piece of paper and submit this alongside the completed Consultation Questionnaire.

To submit a completed questionnaire in response to this consultation, please save a copy to your computer, complete it and then re-save it with your responses. Once you have done so, the completed version of the questionnaire on your computer can then be attached to an email and submitted.

Once completed, the ‘Preferred Sites’ Consultation Questionnaire can be submitted by:

Email: planningpolicy@shropshire.gov.uk
(If submitting your own response, please enter your last name in the subject field of the email;
If submitting a response on behalf of a client, please enter their last name in the subject field of the email.)

Post: Shropshire Council, Planning Policy & Strategy Team, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY2 6ND

Data protection

Information collected in our surveys will only be used by us (Shropshire Council) to inform the immediate and future provision of our services. The information you provide will be kept confidential in accordance with our Privacy Policy. It will not be shared outside of Shropshire Council. Information collected via our online surveys (hosted on the Surveymonkey website) will be stored on SurveyMonkey’s servers in the United States of America and SurveyMonkey gives an undertaking never to disclose the survey questions or your responses to others without permission.