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<\/p>\nNew-build houses are overcrowding a market town, according to people living there.<\/p>\n
Their concerns comes as an application to build 275 homes on agricultural fields in Whitchurch, Shropshire, has been put in by developers Richborough.<\/p>\n
Val Sweeney, who lives in the town, said is among those worried at the plans and “cannot logistically think” why more houses could be built on the site when there was “already another site about a mile away that is not being completed or sold”.<\/p>\n
Shropshire Council said it recognised the number of concerns from residents and that a decision had not yet been made on the plans.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Richborough said the planning application could help answer the area’s housing needs.<\/p>\n
Their proposals are for a 28.5 acre (11.5 hectare) parcel of land by the A41 Whitchurch Bypass, Wrexham Road and Belton Road.<\/p>\n
Nicknamed “Whitchurch West”, developers said it would have a mix of housing types – of which 252 will be sold on the open market, 20 will be for social renting and eight for affordable home ownership.<\/p>\n
Sweeney claimed the area proposed for the homes did not have the structures in place to support the houses.<\/p>\n
“Wrexham Road is already a traffic jam and an accident waiting to happen most days and this is not going to get any better,” she added.<\/p>\n
“There is only one primary school, one junior school and one high school. The other schools you have to travel to.<\/p>\n
“Where are they going to put all the children that are going to be living in, even if it’s only one child, every other house? The schools don’t have the facility.”<\/p>\n
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Local Liberal Democrat councillor Sho Abdul grew up on Wrexham Road, the street which cars from the development would drive on to [Charlie Stubbs \/ BBC]<\/p>\n
The area’s Liberal Democrat councillor, Sho Abdul, grew up on Wrexham Road and said the potential for new houses was proof that the area was “slowly becoming a commuter town”.<\/p>\n
“There are no jobs in this area [for] the majority of people my age and above,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We have to we have to travel out for jobs these days [and go to] Chester, Shrewsbury, Liverpool and Manchester.<\/p>\n
“The average person cannot afford these houses that are sometimes up to three hundred, four hundred thousand pounds for two-bedroom houses.”<\/p>\n
Abdul admitted the houses needed to be built but he thought building on agricultural land was “ridiculous.”<\/p>\n
“We have an ever-increasing population and ever-increasing food demand, that we can’t struggle to meet for ourselves,” Abdul said.<\/p>\n
“We are already seeing mass agricultural output loss through the impact of the climate due to the hot summers that we’re having.”<\/p>\n
The number of concerns raised already by local residents have been recognised by Shropshire Council, a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
They added that the application would be considered against national and local planning policies and all of the issues would be “carefully assessed” as part of the planning process.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Richborough said: “Our proposals have been carefully informed by the site’s existing landscape character, retaining and enhancing established trees and hedgerows, while introducing a new landscaped edge that provides a soft transition to the surrounding countryside.”<\/p>\n
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