Telford considers CPO powers to unlock ‘stalled’ town sites

Derelict brownfield plots could be transformed into hundreds of new homes under new local plan proposals, as the council looks to intervene at abandoned development sites blighting local communities.

Telford & Wrekin Council says it’s identified 27 sites across 20 acres of land where development has stalled in the borough, 18 of which are in “high profile” town centre locations.

Now, new policies on vacant brownfield sites could unlock the development of almost 400 homes, according to new documents submitted with the authority’s local plan review.

Enforcement action has been carried out at the majority of the sites identified on the list, which includes a number of listed buildings such as the former Beacon pub in Madeley – a 17th century listed building which has seen a number of proposed residential schemes fall short over the past decade since the building closed its doors as a pub business.

The authority says its vacant brownfield sites in the borough have a “significant impact” on local communities, and says it’s now considering using compulsory purchase powers to resolve the issue.

Under a new topic paper submitted with Telford’s ongoing local plan review in September, the authority plans to work with developers to release land on partially developed or vacant sites where schemes have failed due to financial, planning, or market issues.

Where those talks fail, the council would bring in its own developers to work up schemes which could be used to bring the sites back into use – with the option to either sell the land to developers, or build out the scheme itself.

Those homes could potentially be delivered by Nuplace, the council’s housing development company, which has built over 800 homes since its inception in 2015.

“It is clear that reasons for a site being stalled are often complex and may therefore take significant time to resolve, however where a landowner refuses to engage or the site fails to progress following identification and engagement, the local plan sets out timescales and reasoning for taking formal action through compulsory purchase order,” said the paper.

“Stalled sites in the borough have the potential to provide a number of houses within Telford and Wrekin and the council are working proactively to enable these sites to be unlocked.”

Telford & Wrekin’s local plan review on its plan, which takes the borough through to 2031, was submitted for inspection in September. Initial hearings are due to be held in Telford during late February.