Dear Blogger
Message from Rachel Denyer - please read this very useful explanation of county and Ruyton planning strategy.
Thanks for sending the email related to this topic earlier, and also for forwarding the views of one resident.
My comments are this I will try to keep it brief:
The review of building homes in the parish is part of a review by Shropshire Council for the entire county. Housing supply & demand in the county has increased (and will continue to increase) due to population growth. This is a reality that all counties face. I understand the need for a review of this, and have to accept that it is only right that the village takes a percentage of this housing need.
However, in doing so it must ensure that the housing mix, and number of houses is appropriate to the village, for the long term.
I do not have a problem with this provided discussions about the subject are open, transparent and all factors considered.
To be fair to the serving Parish Council this topic was discussed at the Annual Parish Meeting, so it was highlighted. That said, what was discussed or how in depth the information provided is unknown. I was unable to attend the meeting & have not seen any minutes from the meeting regarding this discussion.
I only found out about the questionnaire because I too visited Cafe XI. I was flabbergasted to say the least.
I returned my survey that day. But failed to find anything about it at all on the Parish Council, so emailed the clerk asking her to forward me the link. I never did get a response. But a few days later the link appeared on the website.
For background I think it is important to point out that the Shropshire Council review of land stems back a number of years (the document under review is from November 2018). Shropshire Council got itself in a bit of a pickle over its local plan and planning inspectors sent a critical letter to it in 2024, outlining its shortcomings. This recent call for housing by Shropshire Council is not new, it has just been delayed in the pipeline.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz4xnpwe3rvo.amp. (This is just one example of many articles on the internet you can find in relation to the topic).
Shropshire Council produced a document (some call it strategic plan, local plan or neighbourhood plan) which outlines various locations in areas where housing is needed and sites are to be considered. From memory it looks at the period 2016 - 2035.
In 2018, the then Parish Council looked extensively at this topic & liaised with Shropshire Council regarding this topic (I know that because I recall my husband was a councillor at the time). . Councillors looked at all sites and wrote a report which highlighted the pros/cons for each of the sites proposed by Shropshire Council. Recommendations were made as a result to Shropshire Council.
Since that time this topic has not been discussed in depth primarily because Shropshire Council 'got itself in a pickle' and could not verify the plan (they needed to redraft parts and it has been upheld up).
So this brings us to 2025: I don't know without seeing the new document sent to the current Parish Council regarding this, whether this document has been amended since that date or not in relation to the village. As the questionnaire does not provide a link to the current document, I cannot reference check anything, or do any independent research.
But what I do know is that Shropshire Council highlighted more than 4 areas within the Parish as perspective options for building homes. It was the current Parish Council who chose to put forward 4 of these sites forward to the public as the only options. There is no explanation as to why these 4 sites have chosen and the rest discounted.
If anyone is interested in seeing the original options put forward by Shropshire Council regarding this they can view it here
It is an exhaustive list of all possible sites in Shropshire. Ruyton XI Towns is on pages 172-179. It has references to each site eg: RUY001. RUY001 on one page will explain such things as where the land is located (page 172), & on the following page 173, it will explain the indicative residential capacity and the argument (+/-) for using that land. It is best viewed in landscape.
If a person wishes to see where a site is within the village they need to look at this page:
In the search bar type 'Ruyton XI Towns' - select an address in the village (I normally use the first one Ruyton Hall). Then scroll around the map to view the areas (potential sites are yellow).
The map has a little black box on view (if you navigate to a yellow area). If you click on the box (using the > symbol it sends you to another page which will show you the reference to the aforementioned document eg: RUY001. (See photo).
(This has taken me days to work out - so god forbid if anyone isn't IT savvy. And it is a reminder to me, why the Parish Council needs to be providing clear and accurate information in a way that is accessible).
I have not yet had time to look at each site. But I have looked at the ones that would impact on our household the most. One in particular which is RUY023 - the land between Little Ness Road and Mill Lane. It is shown as Site 1 on the questionnaire.
This site was put forward by the landowners. There has no declaration of interest mentioned by any councillor in relation to this site (yet there should have been).
And if you were to ask me what I have learnt from experience: Disappointment on many levels.
To say I remain flabbergasted is an understatement.
Kind regards
Rachel Denyer
