There are planning applications or pre-application discussions for more than 500 houses in Ludlow at the moment. Most are on greenfield sites and some are not in SAMDev. Here are the major proposals.
| Site | Dwellings | Land type? | Status | In SAMDev? |
Reference |
| Off Bromfield Road | Up to 215 | Greenfield | Decision on outline planning permission 22 July. Refused 22 July. Resubmitted October 2014. | No | 13/03862/OUT14/04455/OUT |
| Foldgate Lane | Up to 150 | Greenfield | Pre-application consultation | No | None |
| Between Sheet Road and Eco Park | 80 | Greenfield | Application for outline planning permission lodged | Yes | 14/01012/OUT |
| Shropshire Building Supplies | 29 | Brownfield | Applications for outline planning permission lodged | [No] | 14/03091/OUT 14/03102/FUL |
| Fishmore Road Whittles | c. 20 | Brownfield | Application for outline planning permission lodged | [No] | 14/02846/OUT |
| Fishmore Road, Elm Lodge | 20 | Brownfield | Application for outline planning permission lodged. | [No] | 14/00884/OUT |
[No] means not specifically in SAMDev but SAMDev assumes a number of brownfield sites in Ludlow will be developed over the plan period.
SAMDev has been approved by the council but not by the planning inspectorate. It says that Ludlow must build 875 new homes between 2006 and 2026. Note that date 2006. Because planning is a rolling process with no beginning and no end, we need anchor dates in planning. In Shropshire it is 2006 and even though SAMDev talks about 875 new homes for Ludlow:
“Approximately 531 of these have already been built since 2006 or currently have planning permission leaving an additional 344 to find between 2013 and 2026.”
That’s 344 new dwellings or thereabouts for Ludlow in the next 12 years. The table above shows that nearly 500 homes are currently in the planning system or their promoters are expecting to put in an application sometime soon. We look like exceeding the 344 home target well before 2026.
Can we reject housing once the 875 home 2006-26 target in Ludlow is reached? The planners say: “Probably no.”
What is planning for if we can’t control what goes where? Why did we spend all that effort on SAMDev if it is to be undercut by speculative developments even before it is approved?