Residential development should be small in scale, appropriate in design and spread through the settlements.
Non-residential development should be controlled to preserve rural tranquility and protect residents from disturbance.
A diverse community mix should be encouraged with housing and facilities suited to a range of family types and circumstances.
Little Wenlock is designated in the Wrekin Local Plan 1995-2006 (Policy H9) as one of only 13 suitable settlements in the rural area in which new residential developments will be permitted, with a maximum allocation of 150 additional dwellings set for the entire area over the Plan period.
Despite this average allocation of 12 dwellings per settlement up to and including 2006, a total of 17 new houses were completed or approved in the village in the period 1995-2002. This primarily resulted from a single major development resisted by the Planning Authority but granted by Government on appeal.-
Excluding this estate development (which clearly flew in the face of a number of Local Plan policies) a total of five new dwellings were added to the parish between 1995 and 2002. This demonstrates an underlying rate of development of around six or seven new dwellings in the 10 year Plan period.
Given the over-provision of new dwellings in Little Wenlock under the existing Local Plan, the underlying level of new building demand evident in recent years and the desire of the community to avoid spoiling the rural area with excessive extra housing, the parish believes new residential development should be strictly limited over the coming decade.
Housing development with the past decade has almost exhausted the available ëinfillí space within Little Wenlock village. At the same time, restrictions on new dwellings outside the ësuitable settlementí designation have led to a growing imbalance between Little Wenlock village and the other settlements within the parish.
The parish considers the vitality of its community lies in maintaining the balance of settlement between the two main villages and outlying hamlets. On the one hand this will minimise the extent to which the larger settlements become dominant residential suburbs, while on the other preventing the smaller settlements from falling further into decline.
The fact that the main village has no school or shop and little in the way of public transport services or local employment means there is no economic or environmental justification for concentrating new housing development in this settlement alone, even were the space to be available.
The infill space that currently exists for a small number of dwellings within New Works and to a lesser extent Huntington and Coalmoor, however, provides a further reason to encourage appropriate housing development in these parts of the parish. As does their proximity to the facilities of the main Telford area.
Particular care must be taken to avoid housing sprawl from existing settlements, or extensions to them encroaching on the open countryside.
The parish also believes that appropriate development scale is vital to maintaining its community life and spirit, wishing to ensure new housing is integrated into its settlements in ways which encourage rather than discourage community involvement.
It is equally keen to maintain a reasonable balance of houses across the range of sizes and affordability to ensure it preserves communities with a good mix of family types and circumstances.
As part of its effort to maintain a balanced community, the parish wishes to ensure that people employed locally or from local families can afford to continue living in the locality.
A parish-wide assessment conducted in the mid-1990ís identified a need for two or three affordable houses for rent providing these dwellings could remain available to local people in housing need.
Although the existing housing stock is of a wide variety of different designs, the parish is keen to see all new houses and extensions to existing dwellings reinforcing its local character and visual distinctiveness.
At the same time, it is particularly conscious of the need to respect the established features of its settlements and avoid developments which are either incongruous in themselves or inappropriate in relation to their effect on neighbouring properties or existing residents.
Appropriate design to minimise heat loss and wasteful energy use is also considered important.
The parish is aware of the damage that excessive conversion of non-residential buildings to residential use can cause. It is equally conscious, however, of the need to ensure that large numbers of redundant farm buildings do not fall into decay and dereliction.
Barn conversions within the open countryside must be avoided in just the same way as new housing development, unless the buildings concerned are of sufficient merit and where they would otherwise be lost.-
More favourable consideration should, it is felt, be given to residential conversions where the buildings are within one of the parishís existing settlements or form part of a specific scheme to diversify an existing farm business and maintain or create local employment.
There is limited potential for commercial development within the parishís existing settlements and this must be carefully controlled to preserve the immediate environment and tranquillity of the almost entirely residential communities.
While interested in maintaining existing local employment and in developing new job opportunities, the parish is particularly keen to avoid ëunneighbourlyí developments resulting in additional noise, smell or other disturbance in or close to its settlements.
Commercial developments outside the parish's existing settlements have less potential for additional disturbance to residents, providing they are of an appropriate type, scale and design.
In many cases, indeed, they are to be encouraged as a means of maintaining rural employment and preventing farm buildings falling into disuse and decay.
Commercial uses considered particularly appropriate include:
In all cases the parish considers such developments should be located within existing farmsteads and, preferably, within existing buildings converted for the purpose. Any developments in the open countryside are clearly undesirable in exactly the same way as residential developments.
Industrial developments of any type or scale are considered inappropriate to the maintenance of the tranquil rural environment that forms such an important part of the parishís vision.
This applies as much to temporary land uses like mining or land-filling as it does to permanent developments involving heavy plant and machinery; particularly so in view of the extent to which substantial parts of the parish have suffered the cumulative impact of open-cast coal mining, land-filling and poor quality land restoration over many decades.
The parish is keen to protect and preserve its listed buildings for their historic and architectural value as an important part of the communityís heritage.
In this context, there is a clear need to control the extent to which they are subject to alterations, extensions and other changes, as well as to prevent their demolition as part of new developments.
At the same time, however, care must be taken to avoid overly restrictive controls which may result in such buildings being left to decay into dereliction.
The setting of listed buildings also needs to be protected from any development in the immediate vicinity which would adversely affect their context.
Although historical problems with power failures in the main settlement of Little Wenlock have largely been overcome in recent years, New Works and outlying parts of the parish have continued to experience repeated power cuts. As well as affecting domestic electricity supplies, these cuts have left a number of homes without water for several days in some cases.
The parish believes most of the power supply problems can be eliminated by greater attention to vegetation control along local overhead power lines. Better back-up generator facilities at key water pumping stations would further safeguard water supplies.
As part of its commitment to more sustainable development, the parish is strongly in favour of all measures that increase the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce the consumption of energy.
In particular, it considers it vital to minimise heat loss from buildings through the highest possible standards of insulation. At the same time, it is keen to see the greatest possible use made of low energy technologies.
The parish is also interested in reducing the use of fossil fuels by maximising energy from renewable sources.
In addition to specifying electricity from 'green' sources, a particular role is seen for the use of active solar technology in both existing and new buildings.-
Care will, however, need to be taken with the design and siting of solar energy collectors so they do not adversely affect the visual character of buildings. This will be an especially important consideration with Listed Buildings.
Adequate street lighting continues to be an important requirement within the two main settlements. The parish believes, however, that safety and security needs must be effectively balanced with lighting which is in keeping with the rural character of the area.
Refurbished, telegraph pole-mounted lighting units are the preferred option with more natural 'white bulbs' rather than orange sox lights.
To minimise unnecessary light pollution part-night operation is considered to be most appropriate, with photo-electric cells switching the lights on at dusk and off at dawn while timing devices switch them off at around 1.00 am then back on again at around 5.30 am.
This and the widespread use of low energy bulbs, of course, also makes a significant contribution to energy (and cost) saving.
Outside the main settlements it is not considered either appropriate or necessary to have street lighting of any description, while significant light pollution from other sources should be discouraged.
While road safety is an important issue for pedestrians in the two main settlements, the community has no desire to see more pavements in either of its villages, regarding these as out-of-character with the rural environment.
Nor does it wish to see any urban style yellow lines or other controls over on-street parking, regarding an element of this as desirable to limit traffic speeds by creating clear road constrictions (as well as essential for many residents).
The imposition of a 30 mph speed restriction in Little Wenlock in 2002 to match the long-standing restriction in New Works is seen as a positive move to reduce dangerously high traffic speeds in some parts of the village.
The parish, however, believes there is a need to take more active measures to control the speed of traffic in specific parts of its settlements.
In this context, there is concern over the installation of speed bumps or sleeping policeman, both for their appearance and the extent to which they can create noise and, in many cases, additional danger from unobservant motorists.
Instead, the balance of community opinion is in favour of appropriately-designed verge-side fencing to create a feeling of narrowing on entry to the village. Other measures offering the potential to reduce traffic speeds, that are in-keeping with the area and do not significantly add to either noise or danger should also be explored.