THE OUTLINE PROPOSALS

About Bloor Homes

Bloor Homes is a family-owned private housebuilder with a reputation for quality, consistently achieving the highest five-star rating for customer satisfaction in the annual National Housebuilders Federation National New Homes Customer Satisfaction Survey. Over 97% of customers would recommend Bloor Homes to family and friends.

Find out more at: https://bloorhomes.com/

The site

The circa 3.2ha site is located to the east of Wem Road on the northern side of Shawbury. The site is bounded to the south by existing residential development, while RAF Shawbury lies opposite the site to the west of Wem Road. To the north of the site is a disused former school site and further RAF facilities. 

The site is currently predominantly used for arable agriculture, which is of relatively low biodiversity value. Existing higher value habitats on the field boundaries, such as mature trees and hedgerows, will be retained as much as possible and enhanced with additional landscape planting, with development parcels shaped by the existing field pattern.

There are currently no public rights of way providing public access to the site.

Site location plan - click to enlarge

Planning policy context

The site is located outside of the Greenbelt and occupies a highly sustainable location adjacent to the north of the settlement boundary of Shawbury. As such, it was submitted via Shropshire Council’s latest Call for Sites and promoted for residential development through the Council’s emerging new Local Plan.

Draft Local Plan

Local planning authorities are required by Government to update their Local Plans every five years. The current adopted Local Plan for Shropshire is the Core Strategy which was adopted in 2011 and has therefore now fallen significantly out of date. Shropshire Council had been preparing a new Local Plan, however this was abandoned in July 2025 following issues arising from the Independent Examination. Following the withdrawal of the previous draft Plan, Shropshire Council is now preparing a new Local Plan for 2025-2045 which will guide future development across the county. Formal preparation is expected to begin in January 2026, with evidence gathering currently underway. Alongside the preparation of the new Local Plan, it is essential that Shropshire Council can continue to demonstrate housing delivery.

Increased housing targets

Changes to the National Planning Policy Framework announced by the Government in late 2024 has nearly doubled the number of homes Shropshire Council will need to deliver from 1,070 to 2,025 homes per year. This has left Shropshire Council with a shortfall in housing land supply.

Five-year housing land supply

The NPPF also requires that local authorities such as Shropshire Council are able to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. This is the amount of land that the Council must identify to ensure there are sufficient deliverable sites for residential development over the next five years. Shropshire Council currently cannot demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing land.

Outline planning application

In light of the current position on housing, an outline planning application for the site is now being brought forward to contribute to meeting this housing delivery shortfall at a sustainable location adjacent to the existing settlement boundary of Shawbury. Existing development exists on three sides of site, therefore making this site a logical infill extension of the existing settlement. The development proposed by Bloor Homes will support Shropshire’s housing needs while contributing positively to the local community.

Site constraints and opportunities

How site features and landscape have shaped the proposed illustrative layout of the new neighbourhood.

In preparing the concept layout for the site, the technical team appointed by Bloor Homes first of all considered the landscape, drainage features, topography and local context of the site. The accompanying plan shows some of the features and constraints that have informed the emerging outline proposals.

This plan shows analysis of some of the site features that have influenced the illustrative masterplan for the new neighbourhood - click to enlarge

The outline proposals

Bloor Homes is preparing an outline planning application for a landscape-led residential development at Wem Road, Shawbury, including:

• Up to 120 high-quality homes, including family homes and properties suitable for down-sizers.
• 15% of the new homes will be provided as affordable housing, providing opportunities for those on lower incomes and first time buyers to secure a home of their own in Shawbury.
• A gas-free development with all homes built to be net zero carbon-ready, including air source heat pumps, solar panels, uprated insulation and EV charging infrastructure.
• A landscape-led approach to development, with the retention of existing trees and the majority of hedgerows, alongside extensive planting of new trees.
• The planting of a community orchard and areas for biodiversity.
• The creation of new green public open spaces, including children’s play areas, a new pump track for young people of all ages, and areas for natural play. 
• Vehicular, cycle and pedestrian access directly from Wem Road. 
• A network of new publicly accessible walking and cycling routes through landscaped open space. 
• Connectivity to the disused former school site to the north providing opportunities for the site’s reuse by Shropshire Council.
• A sustainable drainage system (SuDS) to manage surface water and create new habitat areas.
• Investment to support local infrastructure such as healthcare and education

Illustrative concept masterplan of the proposed development. Click to open interactive masterplan map.

New homes

House types

The planning application being prepared by Bloor Homes is an outline planning application. This type of planning application sets out the broad principles of development, such as maximum number of homes, an illustrative layout and site access arrangements. Should outline planning permission be received, finer details such as specific house types, detailed layout, architecture etc would be subject to a subsequent further planning application (called a Reserved Matters planning application). This would involve further consultation with the community.

While house types would be determined at the Reserved Matters planning stage, we have provided imagery of existing Bloor Homes developments on this website to provide an idea of the types of high-quality homes we build.

Use the feedback questionnaire to tell us the types of homes you would like to see prioritised in Shawbury.

Examples of some recent Bloor Homes developments. Click to open a gallery of images.

Sustainable homes

We want to deliver homes that are sustainable now and contribute to a cleaner, greener future.

We know that sustainability is hugely important to communities across the country. The new homes for Shawbury will be built to the Future Homes Standard, resulting in a neighbourhood of net zero carbon ready homes.

The development will be gas-free, with all homes provided with air source heat pumps as standard. PV cells (solar panels) will also be incorporated, which along with the use of the latest materials and technique to maximise insulation, air tightness and heat recovery, will create an uplift in energy efficiency of 75-80%.

The new homes will incorporate sanitaryware and appliances that meet the highest water efficiency standards.

Electric vehicle (EV) charging points will be provided for all homes with on plot parking, together with access to communal EV charging points for the whole development.

To minimise the impact of construction, we always aim to procure materials from sustainable sources and recycle construction waste as far as is possible.

Investing in community infrastructure

A key consideration with a planning proposal such as this is to ensure that local services receive the investment they need to accommodate housing growth in the local area. The development will generate investment into local infrastructure such as healthcare and education, and this will be informed by consultation carried out by Shropshire Council with statutory bodies such as the local NHS Integrated Care Board and the local education team. It is understood that the local school does currently have capacity, with some classrooms currently unused, however this will be confirmed in discussions with the council’s education team. Investment funding will be secured via Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payments or appropriate legal agreement between Bloor Homes and the Council.

Access and highways

Access

Vehicular access to the development is proposed via a new junction directly from the B5063 Wem Road. A pre-application consultation has been undertaken with the Local Highways Authority in line with best practice guidance. This is to agree a methodology for the forthcoming planning application and to ensure all required assessments are undertaken and a site access strategy agreed.

At the northern edge of the site, it is proposed to provide an access point to the disused former school site to the north. This will provide future opportunities for the Council to reuse the site should it be required.

Wider network

Traffic surveys have been undertaken at junctions on the local road network to help inform the Transport Assessment which will form part of the outline planning application. This study will carry out an assessment of these junctions, known as a “Junction Capacity Assessment”, which models how the junctions perform currently and how they will perform in a future year scenario with the development in place. The methodology and parameters for this assessment have been agreed with the Local Highways Authority through the pre-application process set out above.

Vehicular, cycle and pedestrian access will be taken via a new junction with Wem Road. Click to enlarge.

Active travel

The new public open space within the development will include opportunities for walking and cycling. These new routes will tie-in to the existing pedestrian/cycle infrastructure on B5063 Wem Road to provide onward connections to amenities within Shawbury village.

The site is well connected to the existing pedestrian and cycle network, with B5063 Wem Road forming part of National Cycle Network Route 45, which provides onwards connections to Shrewsbury to the south and Whitchurch to the north.

The application will also be supported by a Travel Plan, which will set out measures to encourage residents to use sustainable modes of transport like walking, cycling and public transport.

Public open spaces within the development will provide opportunities for walking and cycling, with links to wider active travel connections.

Outdoor recreation

The proposed development will provide high quality public open spaces, to create a healthy, active environment for residents and the wider community. Open spaces will surround the residential development, with a new common, Roden Green, provided centrally within the site, featuring a children’s play area and areas to socialise outdoors. Following initial engagement with Shawbury Parish Council, the design team has also included a proposed new pump track (a track for bikes and scooters etc) aimed at young people of all ages. This would replace the existing facility in the village which is unsuitable for year round use and which the parish council has been unable to be upgrade due to it being in third party ownership. 

A circulatory walking and cycling route will pass through landscaped open spaces, including significant planting of new trees, a community orchard, and areas of natural play.

The development will feature high quality open space providing a range of outdoor recreational opportunities.

In addition to a children’s play area, it is also proposed that the development will provide a new pump track for Shawbury, providing recreational facilities for all ages, including older children.

Ecology

We want to ensure that natural habitats are protected while we deliver new homes for people and families.

We are conscious of the ever-increasing importance of ensuring that development is sustainable, protecting and enhancing natural habitats and green infrastructure as much as possible whilst delivering much needed homes for people and families.

The site is largely comprised of arable field which is of low ecological value. The field is bounded by higher value habitats incorporating hedgerows and mature trees, while a small parcel of other neutral grassland is present along the eastern boundary bordering a watercourse. The scheme design will aim to retain and buffer these higher value habitat features wherever possible, alongside additional new habitat planting to enhance them. Habitats of value can be created in areas of open space present on-site including wildflower grassland meadows, native scrub, and species rich hedgerow planting, to enhance the on-site biodiversity value. A Biodiversity Net Gain calculation will be undertaken with measures on and off-site to achieve net gain of at least 10%.

Site and desk studies have identified the potential for breeding birds, bats, reptiles, otter and water voles to be present on-site and further survey work is underway to determine the presence/absence of several protected and priority species and to understand their usage of the site. As set out above, existing high value habitats including hedgerows and watercourse will be buffered from the development wherever possible to retain these features for foraging and dispersing bats and nesting birds. In addition, the creation of new green corridors with native species rich hedgerow and native scrub planting will maintain and improve the green connectivity across the wider landscape.

Homes for Nature

Bloor Homes is a member of the Homes for Nature programme. This includes a commitment to see a bird-nesting brick or box installed for every new home built, as well as hedgehog highways as standard on every new development.

Drainage

Environment Agency flood mapping indicates that the majority of the site lies within Flood Zone 1, meaning it is at the lowest probability of fluvial flooding. A corridor along the existing watercourse through the site is designated as Flood Zones 2 and 3; however, this area lies outside the proposed extent of built development.

In terms of surface water flood risk, the site is shown to be predominantly at very low (less than 0.1%) to low (0.1–1%) annual probability of surface water flooding.

A new surface water drainage system will be provided to serve the development. This will comprise a piped network discharging to a detention basin located in the eastern area of the site. The detention basin will provide surface water storage and control discharge to greenfield runoff rates, ensuring there is no increase in flood risk on-site or downstream. The system will be designed to accommodate rainfall events up to and including the 1 in 100-year storm plus 40% climate change allowance.

In addition to the detention basin, the drainage network will incorporate a range of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) such as swales, filter drains, filter strips, and permeable paving, to promote infiltration and water quality improvements. There will also be scope for the basin to provide biodiversity enhancement through the creation of wetland habitat with appropriate planting.

Foul water from the development will be conveyed via a new foul pumping station and rising main to the existing public sewer network, subject to agreement with Severn Trent Water.

The sustainable drainage system for the new neighbourhood will also provide biodiversity benefits through the provision of wetland habitat.

Heritage

Archaeology

A desk-based archaeological assessment has been prepared that suggests that the site has moderate potential for prehistoric remains due to the presence of nearby probable prehistoric remains. The site is also assessed as having a moderate to high potential for archaeological remains for the Romano-British period noting the postulated route of the Roman Road from Wroxeter to Rutinium, Whitchurch and Chester located within the western part of the site. Ridge and furrow earthwork features in the locality suggest that there is moderate potential for medieval archaeological remains at the site with any remains likely relating to farming activity.

Whilst there is much evidence of activity from the post-medieval, early modern and modern periods in the wider surrounds there is nothing to indicate any activity within the site, with the site likely to have been in agricultural use during these periods and thereby there is a low potential for post medieval and early modern archaeological remains at the site with any remains relating to farming activity only.

The full extent of the potential for archaeology will be confirmed more fully by further investigation, such as geophysical studies or trenching.

Built Heritage

The Site does not include any built heritage assets such as listed buildings, and it does not contribute to the heritage significance of any in vicinity of the site. Development at the site would have no impact on built heritage assets.