Angela Rayner to run the rule over 800-home Shropshire scheme
The Secretary of State will decide the fate of a planned 800-home extension to Albrighton, announcing the move two days after the opening of a planning inquiry into the scheme.
Boningale Developments took its controversial Green Belt proposals to appeal after Shropshire Council’s planning committee refused the 120-acre development in December last year.
The scheme includes an 80-room care home, a secondary school, and a local centre as part of proposals which would swell the size of the village, on the county’s eastern border with Staffordshire, by around 40%.
Boningale is arguing that the site should be classified as Grey Belt, adding that its proposals would help address Shropshire’s housing supply – recently estimated at 3.1 years – and deliver vital services for the community.
A public inquiry intended to decide the fate of the proposals opened on Tuesday in Shrewsbury.
But the Planning Inspectorate has now been told to make a recommendation rather than a decision – with the final call resting with Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner.
Rayner’s decision to “recover” the appeal decision is due to the case raising “important or novel development control and/or legal issues”, and because it involves significant development in the Green Belt, according to Shropshire Council, who were informed of the decision by the Planning Inspectorate.
“We have received notification that the Secretary of State will determine the Patshull Road, Albrighton appeal,” said a spokesperson for Shropshire Council.
“The public inquiry remains the forum for the evidence to be heard and tested. The council will continue to present its case in accordance with the inquiry timetable and will work with the Planning Inspectorate to ensure that residents and interested parties are kept informed of the process.”
Earlier this week, Rayner told the BBC that she felt the government’s chances of hitting a stated 1.5m new homes by the end of the current parliament in 2029 were “slim”.
However, she said the government remained committed to the target.
Wrekin MP, Mark Pritchard, who has campaigned against the development, described the move as “chillingly egregious”.
“Albrighton is a test case of this government’s destructive plans to turn England’s green belt into grey-belt, at a stroke of Angela Rayner’s pen,” he told the Shropshire Star.
“This intervention sets a worrying precedent for England’s green and pleasant land, which is now in real peril.”
Prior to the start of this week’s planning inquiry in Shropshire, members of the campaign group set up to fend off the proposals staged a protest walk to draw attention to their campaign.
Albrighton Development Action Group is participating as a Rule 6 party in the inquiry, entitling the group to present evidence as an active participant in the proceedings.
“We have argued for some time that the green belt grab in Albrighton is of national planning importance and is potentially the biggest test case of its type to date,” said a spokesperson for ADAG.
“The Secretary of State’s decision to recover the appeal came on the start of day 2, after the Planning Inspector had heard lived experiences of 37 independent local people and organisations on how this overdevelopment will have a detrimental effect on our lives and the community we call home.
“Our conviction to deliver the best possible material considerations and sound planning and transport arguments to win this appeal remains unchanged.
“ADAG is confident that both the Planning Inspector and Angela Rayner will make the right decision and dismiss this appeal based on their own National Planning Policy Framework and the simple fact the identified land is – to this very day – productive farmland and core green belt.”
The enquiry will conclude on 9 October, with a final decision to be made by the Secretary of State in due course.
MHCLG has been contacted for comment.
