Gnosall Parish Council seeks residents to join Project Board

Gnosall Parish Council has agreed to support the application for affordable homes at a site on Knightley Road. This follows a six-month Pre Project Board collaboration with Wrekin Housing and Central & Country, after they approached the Council in 2023 to secure support for a Rural Exception Site build of a modest development including
affordable homes and affordable retirement properties.

A public meeting was held in June 2024 advising residents that the land at Knightley had been purchased and that an affordable home development was proposed for the site. Wrekin Housing and Central & County made a presentation detailing two similar developments in Shropshire and giving details of how Project Boards had been established for each of them, with representation from local parish councils, residents, local authorities, and other interested parties.

The Council felt unable to make a commitment to support the development at this stage, but were interested to investigate the proposed working relationship, so decided to ask if Wrekin Housing and Central & Country would agree to set-up a Pre Project Board as a “try before you buy” initiative. This was a first for the developers, but would enable the
Council to better understand how a Project Board with Wrekin Housing and Central & Country would work, their willingness to work in partnership, allow local residents to engage in the decision-making process and help refine the indicative plans shared, and ultimately allow the Council to decide if they should support the venture or not.

A group of twelve residents, councillors and Wrekin and C&C staff made up the Pre Project Board and met monthly for six months, discussing the indicative plans, attenuation, boundary issues, location of house types within the plan, lighting, and public footpaths. Wrekin Housing and Central & Housing took on board many of the Pre Project Boards suggestions and even addressed the attenuation on the site to the extent that the new proposal is significantly improved and will be better than is there currently.

At the conclusion of the Pre Project Board, the Council accepted the Boards recommendation to support Wrekin Housing and Central & Country in bringing forward an application for affordable homes on this site, and should continue to work in partnership with residents, local groups, organisations and local authority representatives
in a formal Project Board.

Existing members of the Pre Project Board have been invited to join the Project Board
but the Council would like to invite interested residents to put themselves forward to take part in the next phase of this venture. They are particularly interested in residents from areas not adjacent to the development to take part so that the entire community is represented.

This is a long-term project with a commitment period of approximately two years from start to completion. Meetings will take place monthly, though there may be periods when no meetings are held.

The first meeting will be on Wednesday the 9th of July at 6pm at the Grosvenor Centre. Interested parties should contact the Chief Officer in the first instance. In the event that there are more applicants than places available on the Board, applicants will be selected at random.

Please send your expressions of interest to chiefofficer@gnosallparishcouncil.gov.uk with your name, address and contact details by the Monday 30th June 2025.

Jennifer Marshall
Gnosall Parish Council Chief Officer