‘We have serious concerns’ – inspectors deal major blow to Shropshire Council over ‘unsound’ local plan

The comments come from inspectors Louise Crosby and Elaine Worthington, who are carrying out an analysis of the proposed local plan for Shropshire.

The local plan is one of the council’s most important policies and identifies locations within the authority’s area where residential and commercial investments are recommended by 2038.

The proposed plan includes a total of 31,300 homes to be built over this period and 320 hectares of development land.

In their latest letter, inspectors gave the council until the end of this month to determine how it can address the issues they have identified within six months – otherwise they will ask the authority to withdraw the proposals.

Such an outcome would have serious consequences for the council and the planned development of the district.

In their letter, inspectors highlight a number of what they consider to be shortcomings in the plan, including long-standing problems with the way the council has delivered 1,500 homes to the Black Country.

They also pointed out that the Council was relying on “windfall profits” to cover the total allocation of funds.

Unexpected rainfall sites are those that are not included in the plan but which then materialize and are counted towards the targets.