Shropshire Council are in their final consultation period of the Local Plan. This is a strategic document that Shropshire Council will refer to for the next 18 years. It will inform planning policy, planning applications and many other aspects of our counties development.
You have the opportunity to comment on the strategic plan for your area now! The deadline for consultations is Wednesday 30th September at 5pm.
As you know, we are still fighting to save Cottage Field (field in the top image adjacent to Muller Dairy) from development and bring it into community ownership with the rest of Fordhall Farm. This will only be possible when the landowners – the Healey Estate – have exhausted all their development opportunities.
We need your help to highlight to Shropshire Council that we agree with their current designation. Land at Fordhall Farm should remain outside of the Local Development Plan – it is NOT suitable for development.
We know that the landowners (the Healey Estate) are encouraging the council to move the boundary to include this field. We can’t let that happen.
The public consultation is open until Wednesday 30th September. We need to tell Shropshire Council that they are right – Fordhall Organic Farm should not be built on and it should be retained as the wonderful organic farmland that it currently is.
It is really easy to comment.
Formal Questionnaire – DEADLINE WEDNESDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER 5PM
- CLICK HERE to download PART A. Add your full name and address and save this document (you might need to click enable editing, or enable saving to use the document).
- CLICK HERE to download PART B. Add your name and check you are happy with the comments we have included (you can add more of your own). Save the document.
- Email both documents to planningpolicy@shropshire.gov.uk using your surname as the subject heading
- CLICK HERE for more guidance on completing the form if needed.
Thank you!
If you would like to comment on other areas of the plan, or if you would like to refer yourself to the council papers you can find them here. If you decide you would like to comment on other areas, you will need to complete a PART B form for every area/site you are commenting on:
- CLICK HERE to see the full area Site Assessments for the Market Drayton Area. See pages 13, 41, 133-135 reference MDR014.
- CLICK HERE to see the proposed planning maps for Shropshire which currently exclude land at Fordhall Farm.
- You can find out about the rest of Shropshire HERE
What is the Cottage Field – a reminder
In 2006 you, along with so many others came together to help save Fordhall Farm from development. We were successful in raising the £800,000 needed to purchase 128 acres of Fordhall Farm. That land is now in community ownership for perpetuity.
However, the 12-acre Cottage Field remained in the ownership of the old landlords (the field on left as you come up the farm driveway and is often used for event car parking and vital winter grazing). This was the land that held the most ‘hope’ value for them from a development perspective. Ben had continued to rent and farm this land as part of Fordhall’s Foggage system but he was evicted from it in September 2019. The Healey Estate wanted to cut Fordhall’s ties to the land and investigate their development opportunities.
The Fordhall Community Land Initiative is keen to buy it and place it in community ownership with the rest of Fordhall, but the landowners have to agree to sell it to us first – sounds familiar!
So, our first hurdle on this journey is to show the council how much we wholeheartedly support their decision to exclude land at Fordhall Farm (Cottage Field) from the towns development boundary. Fordhall is a vital community asset and needs to be retained as such. This land is vital to us and to our community, both now and in the future.
Thank you whole heartedly in advance for your time in responding to this consultation. It is wonderful that the council are asking for our comments and together we will make sure they listen.
In hope,
Charlotte and Ben x
