As yet there is no news on when Shropshire Homes will appeal the refusal of planning permission for housing on the Meadow. They have up to 6 months to appeal after the decision date, which was formally given on the 27^th November 2020. We are heartened to see that an appeal by a developer against the refusal of permission for 8 houses on the Linney has recently been turned down by a government inspector.

However, some of you may be aware Shropshire Homes have submitted new plans to stabilise the edge between Castle View Terrace and their development proceeding on the Fishmore Road site. This incorporates two different processes for the bank, “grading” of the section alongside the Meadow, and “soil nails” for the section running adjacent to the houses and gardens nearer New Road.

There are extensive reports attached to the revised application, including new tree reports and geology reports. On initial reading it looks as though much of the hedgerow and trees remain, but on closer inspection existing hedgerow of the meadow will all be removed to allow for a grading of a 1 in 3 slope. This is not obvious from the diagrams supplied, but it looks as though in the region of 20% of the historic Meadow will be destroyed by removal of up to 3m of height. The detail of this is difficult to decipher and we are currently seeking clarification from Shropshire Homes. We will of course update with any information we receive.

Also some of those neighbouring the meadow have had a visit from ‘ctmr’ consulting engineers who have been instructed to carry out inspection of properties to assess the condition of house stability before the works commence. These will include utilising soil nails driven into the ground of up to 12m long (almost 40 ft), we therefore believe they anticipate significant disruption to the geology with a likely impact upon the buildings in the area.

There is an opportunity to pass comment on this variation for land stabilisation on the planning portal , its reference is 21/00752/VAR. We think it is important that supporters of Castle View Meadow are aware of this as they may want to express their views. We have until March 21^st to make formal comments/objections on the planning portal.