A CALL has been made for a planning decision in Ludlow to be taken to the High Court.
Vivienne Parry, who is a member of Ludlow Town Council and represents Ludlow south on Shropshire Council, is enraged by the decision of a planning inspector.
She says that she understands that Shropshire Council is considering seeking a Judicial Review of the decision of the planning inspector to overturn the refusal of a proposal to build 140 new homes on the outskirts of the town.
But Cllr Parry says that she is not against more homes and recognises the need for them.
“I want to see more houses that can be afforded by local people but not this application because it is in the wrong place,” she said.
She said that she is against the scheme even though 25 per cent of the 140 homes are designated as being affordable which means being for rent or shared ownership.
“This is not case of being against new homes being built because they are desperately needed,” added Vivienne Parry.
“It is almost impossible for young people to afford a home in Ludlow and the surrounding area either to buy or to rent.”
“What does it really mean and affordable to whom,” she added.
“Young people in good jobs are telling me that what is described as ‘affordable’ is not affordable to them.
“Unemployment in this area may be relatively low but so are wages.”
Vivienne Parry claims that she knows of a three-bedroom terraced house in Ludlow where the monthly rent is more than £700.
“These are the kind of figures that ordinary families just cannot afford and the same goes for the purchase prices,” added Cllr Parry, who said that house prices in Ludlow are inflated by incomers often from more affluent parts of the country like London and the south-east.
But she said that the need for more homes did not mean that they should not be properly planned.
“We need more two and three-bedroom houses and flats and they should not look out of place,” she added.
The Foldgate Lane development had originally been refused by members of the Shropshire Council southern area planning committee but this was then overturned on appeal by a planning inspector based in Bristol.
It was a move that Andy Boddington, member of Shropshire Council for Ludlow North, described as the end of local planning.
There is no option for a further appeal against the ruling of the inspector on planning grounds.
He had ruled that the development met a need, would provide a boost to the local economy and help to sustain local services in the area.
This leaves a Judicial Review as the only route open those against the inspector’s decision.
However, this would require them to demonstrate that the decision-making process had been mishandled and potentially open Shropshire Council to large legal costs.
