Important clarification

This report does not propose, select, or approve any particular development site.

Land may be suggested to Shropshire Council for consideration, but this does not mean that Shropshire Council has endorsed it, found it suitable, or allocated it for development. Suggested sites must undergo assessment against planning, environmental, infrastructure, and other relevant criteria. Some sites may be rejected or may never be taken forward.

What is the report about?

Shropshire Council is beginning work on a new Local Plan, which will guide development across the county up to 2046. The completed plan will establish a vision for Shropshire and determine how future needs for housing, employment, infrastructure, minerals and waste management should be addressed.

As part of this work, Shropshire Council has published a draft Strategic Environmental Assessment Scoping Report.

The purpose of the report is to establish:

• the environmental information that should be considered;
• the main environmental issues facing Shropshire;
• the objectives against which future options should be assessed; and
• the method that Shropshire Council proposes to use when assessing possible policies, strategies, and sites.

The report therefore establishes an assessment framework. It does not decide where development will take place.

What environmental issues have been identified?

The report identifies several important challenges and opportunities, including:

• protecting designated wildlife sites, ancient woodland, peatland, protected species, and other important habitats;
• reversing habitat loss and fragmentation, and improving connections between habitats;
• improving water quality and ensuring that sufficient water supplies and wastewater-treatment capacity are available;
• managing flood risk and the increasing risk of drought, heatwaves, and extreme weather;
• reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and supporting renewable/low-carbon energy;
• protecting agricultural land, soils, and mineral resources;
• improving air quality and reducing pollution;
• recognising the difficulties rural communities face in accessing services and public transport;
• ensuring that housing and employment growth is supported by suitable roads, services, facilities, and other infrastructure;
• protecting historic buildings, archaeological remains and other heritage assets;
• conserving Shropshire’s landscapes, local character, tranquillity, and dark skies; and
• improving access to services, green spaces, active travel, and sustainable transport.

The report also recognises that these issues are interconnected. For example, development may affect water quality, biodiversity, landscape character, infrastructure, and climate resilience at the same time.

How will future options be assessed?

Shropshire Council proposes eight environmental objectives:

1. To protect and restore biodiversity and support nature recovery.
2. To promote healthy, sustainable, and resilient communities.
3. To use land, soils, agricultural land, and mineral resources sustainably.
4. To minimise water, air, and noise pollution and use water efficiently.
5. To reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and adapt to climate change.
6. To protect Shropshire’s historic environment and cultural heritage.
7. To conserve landscape character, scenic quality, and local distinctiveness.
8. To support sustainable development patterns, connectivity, and sustainable transport.

Possible Local Plan policies, strategies and sites will later be assessed against these objectives. Effects will be classified as significantly adverse, adverse, neutral, positive, or significantly positive. The assessment will also consider indirect, long-term, and cumulative effects.

What does it mean if a site has been suggested?

The suggestion of a site is only an invitation for Shropshire Council to consider whether the land might have development potential. It does not:

• grant planning permission;
• allocate the land for development;
• confirm that the site is suitable;
• mean that development is likely to happen; or
• indicate that Shropshire Council supports the suggestion.

Shropshire Council must assess potential sites consistently and objectively. This will include considering environmental constraints, access, infrastructure, flood risk, landscape, heritage effects, proximity to services, and whether development would support a sustainable settlement pattern.

Only sites that successfully pass the relevant assessment and plan-making stages could potentially be included in a future draft Local Plan. Formal allocation would still not itself grant planning permission: a separate planning application would normally be required before development could proceed.

Consultation and next steps

Shropshire Council is consulting on whether the Scoping Report:

• considers the appropriate policies and evidence;
• identifies the main environmental issues;
• contains suitable environmental objectives; and
• proposes a sound and consistent assessment method.

Comments received will be considered when the final Scoping Report is prepared. At this stage, the consultation is about the proposed environmental assessment framework, not about approving or rejecting an individual development site.

Residents will be able to engage with the Local Plan process as it progresses. Where comments concern a possible development site, they should be expressed calmly, concentrating on relevant planning matters, and the likely effects of development.

The full Draft Strategic Environmental Assessment Scoping Consultation is available on Shropshire Council’s website, if you should wish to submit a response.