Plans revived for 4,000-home village

A landowner has revived plans for a new village of about 4,000 homes in Shropshire, four years after a similar proposal failed to secure a place in the county's Local Plan.

Bradford Estates said the development, known as Weston and proposed on land near Tong, close to the M54, could include schools, a GP surgery, shops and employment land, supporting up to 8,000 jobs.

The company said the scheme would help Shropshire meet future housing needs, but campaigners opposed to building on green belt land said brownfield sites should be developed first.

The proposal is still at an early stage, according to Dominic Stanford, speaking on behalf of the Viscount and Viscountess Newport, who own the estate.

"There are very, very early conversations taking place with Shropshire Council," he said.

Stanford added that consultation events would be held before Christmas to seek residents' views, with more detailed proposals due to be published next year.

"We are nowhere near putting in planning applications," he added.

Bradford Estates put forward similar plans in 2022, but they were not included in Shropshire Council's Local Plan.

Stanford said the ambition for a new settlement remained unchanged, describing Weston as "the flagship project for their 100-year plan for the next century".

Shropshire Council is currently preparing a new Local Plan setting out where future development should take place across the county.

With the authority expected to accommodate more homes in future years, Stanford said land along the M54 corridor was one of the most suitable locations for major development.

"The alternative is more and more extensions of existing towns and villages," he said.

Bradford Estates has described the site as one of the county's most strategically important areas for future growth because of its transport links.

However, opponents said they were already preparing to challenge any revised proposals.

Kath Hemsley, from community campaign group Shifnal Matters, said: "I don't want to see development on the green belt when there are alternative brownfield sites available."

She pointed to sites including the former Ironbridge Power Station and other previously developed land across the West Midlands as better locations for new housing.

Hemsley also questioned whether facilities such as schools and GP surgeries would ultimately be delivered and raised concerns about the type of homes that would be built.

"Developers prefer to build larger detached homes because they make them more money," she said.

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