Council to challenge grant of planning permission for 290-home scheme

Telford & Wrekin Council is to bring a High Court challenge to a planning inspector’s grant of planning permission for a development with up to 290 homes.

The site in question is located off Haygate Road, Wellington. The developer is Gladman Developments.

In a statement the local authority said: “The new Telford and Wrekin Local Plan has involved extensive consultation with stakeholders and residents and consequently sets out proposals for the development of 15,500 new homes in locations that will support and protect local communities and ensure the managed growth of the Town.

“In the light of this, it is clearly appropriate that the Council challenges decisions which it considers are wrong, which threaten this managed growth and which could potentially damage important areas of countryside.”

It added: “We firmly believe we have a robust five year land supply and that our planning policies are relevant, helpful and necessary to protect our most important green spaces while providing opportunities for new homes and jobs across our Borough.  

“If we do not fight this case there is an increased risk of inappropriate large scale encroachment into open countryside and an undermining of our strategy to focus development where it supports the delivery of services and the future of our borough towns.”