Craven Arms, Shropshire

12 Acre Residential Development

In 2024, we agreed a deal to promote a residential development on a

c.11-acre site in Craven Arms, Shropshire delivering up to C.103no.

units. Craven Arms is identified as a ‘Key Centre’ within Shropshire

and proposes 500 dwellings over the plan period of the dated

Adopted Plan. The Adopted Plan states that housing development

will be delivered through the allocation of a combination of

greenfield and brownfield sites identified in the policies map which

are capable of delivering around 350 dwellings in Craven Arms.

The policy is carried forward to the draft emerging plan as there

has been very little development in Craven Arms. The site benefits

from excellent views overlooking the Shropshire Hills and an existing

access onto an adopted highway that was recently upgraded to

accommodate new housing developments adjacent to the site.

The Site isn’t allocated in the dated Adopted Plan or within the emerging

Shropshire Local Plan, which is at examination at present. But it is

allocated as a “Long Term Potential SLAA Residential Site” in the Local

Plan. The changes to the NPPF have caused substantial pressure

on Shropshire’s Housing Targets and the Planning Inspectorate has

recently expressed their “significant concerns about the soundness

of the (emerging) Local Plan in respect of a number of areas”.

This has presented an immediate opportunity now the NPPF is fully

adopted. A Pre-App is being prepared and is due to be submitted

in early 2025 in preparation for a detailed planning application

soon after.