PLANS have been submitted to house a new agricultural building near Cleobury Mortimer. 

John Griffiths wants to use the site in Neen Savage, a hamlet by Little Detton, for agricultural products, with the plans also including an access track and 'concrete apron'.

Ben Griffiths, acting as Mr Griffiths' agent, said: "The site is currently agricultural land, used within an arable rotation.

"It is a level, well drained site not at risk of flooding. The site has also been selected after previous discussions with the planning officer and residents of Little Detton where it was agreed to locate a building at the southern end of the field, away from Little Detton.

"The building is required for storage of agricultural products. The design of the building is such to meet the requirements of its use, yet built within keeping of other farm buildings of the local area.

"Existing access will be used, with the access track to the building being made of free draining stone."

Commenting on the plans, Sophie Milburn a planning ecologist at Shropshire Council said: "Any ponds within 250m of a minor planning application should be assessed in terms of their broad suitability to support great crested newts by carrying out a Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) assessment.

"If any pond is calculated as being suitable then it may be necessary to carry out a presence/absence survey for great crested newts which is made up of four survey visits between mid-March and mid-June with at least two visits between mid-April and mid-May.

"Three survey methods (preferably torch survey, bottle trapping and egg searching) should be used on each survey visit. If great crested newts are discovered then it may be necessary to carry out a population size class estimate which involves an additional teo visits in the specified time period.

"I am happy to be contacted by the appointed ecologist to discuss the application prior to survey work being carried out if that is helpful."