Proposed Housing Development at Cressage in Shropshire
We seek to deliver a high-quality, sustainable development that provides new homes in a landscape led scheme, which sets public open space and connectivity at its heart. It will contribute to the sustainable community of Cressage and add real value through its green and blue infrastructure.
Our planning application will seek outline permission for up to 96 new homes, with vehicular and pedestrian access from Shrewsbury Road and additional pedestrian access from Shore Lane to Crown Lane, Wood Lane and Harley Road.
It will provide extensive new open space, habitat creation, and a new pedestrian route through the village.
The site lies in a sustainable location, so the new path will allow easy off-road access to the village’s facilities. The site is also easily accessible by car from Shrewsbury through its location on the western edge of Cressage, meaning that cars will not need to travel through the village itself.
The location and illustrative layout of the proposed development can be found below:
Benefits of the proposal
Our proposal will provide significant social, environmental and economic benefits for the local community, including:
- The development of 96 new, high-quality homes, including family and affordable homes;
- Provision of a range of house types, from one-bed to four-bed properties to meet a range of community needs;
- A significant area of maintained open space between Shore Lane and Wood Lane/Harley Road for public use;
- Creation of a new accessible and safe pedestrian link to encourage safe pedestrian access from the site to the local services in the village centre;
- Habitat enhancement through the delivery of 10% biodiversity net gain within Cressage; and
- Local socioeconomic benefits, including the provision of new jobs through the construction of the scheme, and an increase in spending in the local economy.
The site at Shore Lane provides a unique opportunity to deliver a development of exceptional quality, that meets the needs of the community and is delivered by a landowner/developer that has a long-term interest and stewardship role in the local area, focused on legacy outcomes rather than short-term gain.
It is a priority of the Estate that development should be sympathetic to the character of Cressage as well as help strengthen the community and sense of place. Achieving a design style and concept which is sympathetic to the village is of paramount importance to the Estate, with the intention that the community can be proud of this development for years to come.
The reputation of the Raby Estate is extremely important, and the current custodians of the Raby Estate will respect the heritage of Cressage and create a place to be proud of. Ensuring the development leaves a positive legacy is our central aim. Raby’s Shropshire estate has been in the custodianship of the Vane family for hundreds of years. The Estate is situated between Shrewsbury and Telford, extending to around 6,500 acres; the aim for the Shropshire Estate is to develop a sense of place by building new homes and businesses, to sustain the rural economy and community.
It is the intention of the Estate to deliver the development directly through its identified development partner, ensuring that a high-quality development and long-lasting legacy are left for the benefit of the local community. The Estate’s vision is to invest in Shropshire to make it a sustainable and attractive place to live.
The Raby Estate have an exceptional track record regarding the promotion of high-quality design through its development. In County Durham, we are delivering a high-quality scheme which will deliver an economic boost to the local area.
The journey to date
- November 2021 – Engagement event with the local community to review proposals with the design team;
- 2021-2022 – Discussions with Parish Council, former Ward Member Councillor Claire Wild, and Leaders and Portfolio Holders at Shropshire Council between 2021 and 2022;
- 2021-2022 – Pre-application request with Shropshire Council, confirming the proposed development on the site was technically deliverable
- 2022-2024 – Engagement in Local Plan Hearing Sessions and consultation on additional material regarding the emerging Local Plan for Shropshire
- December 2024 – Publication of a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and updated standard method to calculate local housing need
- 2022-2025 – Consideration of issues raised in pre-application discussions with Shropshire Council, undertaking technical assessments and devising a scheme which responds to feedback
- 2025 – Emerging Local Plan found unsound by Planning Inspectorate and withdrawn from Examination
Why now?
In December 2024, a new version of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published alongside a corresponding updated standard method to calculate local housing need. As such, Shropshire’s housing need has increased by 45% compared to the adopted local plan and 86% compared to the previous standard method. As a result of this and the adopted local plan being over five years old, per national policy, the local plan is out of date.
The planning policy context has therefore changed since the pre-application discussions in 2021 to 2022, with an increased urgency to find suitable sites to deliver Shropshire’s housing need. As such, further to previous engagement with the local community and Shropshire Council, the Raby Estate are progressing with a planning application for the residential development of land at Shore Lane as the solution to deliver the identified housing need of Cressage and wider Shropshire in the absence of a local plan, and other deliverable sites which can demonstrate safe vehicular access.
Next steps
We are keen to continue engaging with you and the rest of the local community ahead of the submission of the planning application.
The planning application will be submitted this autumn, and we would welcome feedback and questions ahead of submission.
If you would like to provide feedback or have any questions, please use the feedback form below or contact us via email: reception@raby.co.uk