THE retail park proposals for the Foldgate Lane site at the edge of Ludlow fail on all design counts, including visual impact, loss of preserved trees and a hedgerow, lack of a safe junction onto the main road and the general over-development of the site.
However, a key problem that exists for the application is that it completely goes against established central government planning policy. Current retail policy guidance, known as PPG6, expects planning authorities and Government inspectors to reject applications which provide out-of-centre retail floor space as this results in town centres suffering and people travelling around the edge of urban areas by car rather than focussing on centralised town centre facilities.
The South Shropshire Local Plan, both in its current version and the emerging Revised Plan, correctly applies this established policy (via SF1 and SF2) in its written statement. This is good planning - it saves unnecessary greenfield development, keeps town centres viable and reduces unnecessary car travel.
Judging by the deeply flawed tree report that the applicants have offered and the strange claims of its survey of south Shropshire residents, the developers/applicants are obviously out of touch with reasonable scheme ideas and sensible planning approaches.
Nicholas Spall,
New Barnet,
Herts.
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