Much Wenlock residents asked to suggest changes to Draft Plan

Residents are being asked to suggest changes to the Draft Plan before it is formally submitted to Shropshire Council and an independent assessment.

Councillor Mike Grace, Chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, said “We are heading toward the final stages of the Plan and last month we published the Draft Plan for the community to tell us if we have got it right. Over the last year or so, people have shared their opinions and given us their comments at meetings, road shows, in the Residents Survey last Spring and most recently during our two events in January. We have built the Plan around these comments and this formal public consultation is a real opportunity for us to make any important changes so we can be confident that it really is what the community wants.”

The Draft Plan and a Response Form can be found online at www.wenlockplan.org. Paper copies of both are available at Much Wenlock Library and the Town Council’s office at the Corn Exchange, High Street, Much Wenlock. The consultation period lasts 6 weeks and the community has until Wednesday 3rd April 2013 to suggest changes to the Draft Plan. Responses can be posted to the Town Council or e-mailed to mail@wenlockplan.org.

The Draft Neighbourhood Plan:
– Promotes housing for people locally and through a new way of working with Housing Associations stipulates that any new housing should be appropriate in design and scale with the character of Much Wenlock and our local settlements.

– Supports local jobs by making sure that existing employment sites are kept for this use where possible and appropriate.

– Allocates a small housing site off Bridgnorth Road and a small piece of land for new employment at Stretton Road.

– Encourages new ways of reducing flood risk and pollution, earmarking land for flood protection measures.

– Has policies to help ensure new development helps protect and improve the local environment.

Councillor Grace added “We think the Draft Plan proposes the scale of new development and policies to protect the unique quality of our town and parish which the local community has said it needs. If the Plan isn’t put in place we will have to leave the key development decisions to Shropshire Council.”