It was always a foregone conclusion that North Shropshire District Council, as it then was, would rubber-stamp Shropshire Mini Mix's application to double the size of this site without even considering the impact of it on the surrounding countryside. This shows how much woodland was removed - the entire screen has now gone.
This is a small wood and the industrial park pushes back right into it. The wood has also been thinned out by the Forestry Commission. The procedure is plant it, thin it, clear cut it.
What was shocking was the attitude to the woodland itself. OK, its conifer plantation, hardly an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but it is still an area people come to walk and get away from urban life and traffic.Council's make a big play of 'sustainable development'. Why then have they effectively trashed this wood by not even providing for a thin, conifer hedge around it?
NSDC's attitude to the woodland was that it screens the industrial park - thats it - thats its value. There was only one problem with this. As we pointed out to the Council, its a plantation which means sections are completely clear-cut every 20 years or so.
The result? An eyesore visible not only from the woodland but also from the main road and all around.
And don't forget the lights. This is the latest building the Council granted planning permission for. It was actually granted permission in 2007 but the company applied to vary the consent to double the size of the buildng from 400 square metres to 900 square metres. Now as its centrally placed in the industrial park there would be no problem - or so we thought. Until they put 10 floodlights on it. Needless to say the Council put no planning conditions on the building.
Apparently from the main road about a quarter of a mile away this building looks like a football stadium. One person said: 'I've never seen anything like it'.
This is actually the third building that has been erected here. One building should have down facing floodlights, but instead has powerful outward facing lighting.
The other, which again was passed by NSDC, again has floodlights directly facing the woodland to the east and the west.
So much for controlling lighting in the countryside.
The problem is the Government gives guidance, but unless you know planning policy backwards, you don't read the relevant policy circulars until after the event, which is of course too late. Unfortunately when you do read them you realise that the planning department has either totally disregarded Government policy, or has such a low opinion of the countryside that they just don't care how much damage is done to it.
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