New homes plan for Shropshire beauty spot

Housing firm Northern Trust has unveiled plans to build up to 75 homes in the south Shropshire town of Church Stretton.

The developer has launched an online consultation on its initial proposals, which it says will provide a “mix of high quality homes” and includes a proposed 30% of the total to be made available as affordable housing.

The proposal is for a 6.5-acre site known as Snatchfield Farm, which sits outside the town’s development boundary – and is included in a draft neighbourhood plan for the area as a protected site.

A planning application will be submitted to Shropshire Council in November.

“This consultation introduces our vision for much-needed new homes at Snatchfield Farm, designed to meet local demand while respecting the special character of Church Stretton,” said a spokesperson for Northern Trust.

“The aim is to create a neighbourhood that blends sustainability, affordability and good design with a deep respect for the landscape and community.”

Church Stretton is the only town to sit within the boundary of the Shropshire Hills National Landscape, formerly known as the Shropshire Hills AONB, a designated area of outstanding natural beauty recognised for its national importance.

Church Stretton’s town council submitted a request to Shropshire Council in 2023 to create a neighbourhood plan, which would be used in deciding planning applications in the area, which specifically earmarked Snatchfield Farm as a protected area of green space.

That plan was submitted to Shropshire Council in April this year for approval, but has not yet been formally adopted as policy.

That came in the wake of housing development proposals for the site submitted in 2019 which were vociferously resisted by residents and the town council, as well as the Shropshire Green Party, who said development in Church Stretton should be concentrated on smaller infill sites within the town’s development boundary.

The site had been identified by Shropshire Council as a preferred site for the development of up to 70 homes during a consultation in February 2019 – but was subsequently not included in the authority’s draft local plan published in 2023.

In the draft local plan, up to 200 dwellings and around five acres of employment land was earmarked for the Church Stretton area up to 2038, which said development sites should “respond to local needs”.

Shropshire Council’s local plan was withdrawn earlier this year, after government planning inspectors wrote to the authority expressing concerns that it was “unsound”.

The council will begin drawing up a new local plan for the area in January, but it will not be ready to be adopted until 2028.

The consultation on Snatchfield Farm will run until Friday, 7 November.