Our representative on Shropshire Council is Brendan Mallon, who represents Tern Division. He often attends Parish Council meetings and is always happy to take questions or suggestions on local matters. Councillor Mallon also presents a report to the Parish Council and the contents of the latest one can be found below (please note views expressed in Councillor Mallon's report are not necessarily those of the Parish Council):

County Councillor’s Report to Upton Magna Parish Council – 18th June 2026

Local Plan Scoping Consultation – Initial Proposals

Following up from my initial contact with Upton Magna Parish Council about the initial sites being considered for the new Local Plan, clearly there is a danger that we may see a massive overdevelopment of Upton Magna, given the number and scale of development sites being offered up by Sundorne Castle Estate.   I would stress at this stage that these are only potential sites, as proposed to the council by the estate and nothing like a definite application at this stage.  The Local Plan scoping study will be looking at all relevant aspects of economic development, highways and infrastructure policy and assessing which potential sites around the county will be most suitable on that basis. 

I recently attended a drop-in session at the Guildhall to discuss the scoping study with planning officers.  I had a long conversation with Liam Cowden, the Principal Planning Policy Officer, about the concerns of the Parish Councils across Tern.  He was very cognisant of the issues around employment, services, roads and other infrastructure deficiencies.  He emphasised that the call for sites is not indicative of any decision to permit development at any of them and the need for this to be a balanced plan.  He urged all Parish Councils to respond to the current consultation phase by the deadline of July the 15th.  If Upton Magna or other councils are struggling to formulate a response by then, an extension may be available.  As things stand, there will not be another scheduled consultation until April – June 2028, less than a year to go until the final Local Plan is due to be published in March 2029.  There is an initiative to bring this next consultation forward to a similar period in 2027, which would permit an earlier opportunity to challenge the plan while it is still being shaped and not when it is nearly fully formed, an initiative that I will of course be strongly lobbying for.

I will be actively involved in this process at the committee level, emphasising the problems we’re already seeing around Shrewsbury with currently approved development.

Scrutiny Committees Meeting

I recently joined members of all of the council scrutiny committees, along with the council leadership and senior officers, to discuss the committee and Task and Finish activities to be prioritised over the coming 18 months or so.  The development of the new Local Plan is being led by the newly formed Housing Scrutiny Committee, however we on the Economy and Environment Committee emphasised that this needs to be informed by us, as well as the Finance and Improvement Committee particularly.  This should be more than just deciding where to build houses, requiring an integrated plan to coordinate new development with optimal economic growth, highways and infrastructure development, with a sensible plan for optimal allocation of S106 and CIL funds. 

The Highways and North-West Relief Road Task and Finish Groups provide an opportunity to highlight the current and future stresses on our road network.  I have previously attempted to get a comprehensive modelling of traffic around the northern and eastern sides of Shrewsbury that takes into account ongoing and future development, as well as proposed Highways changes in the ‘Big Town Plan’ during the Northern Planning Committees deliberations on the big Ellesmere Road housing development - with no success. During a meeting I managed to get agreement from the Cabinet Member for Highways and the Head of Infrastructure as well as the Chair of Economy and Environment, Councillor Ed Potter, that this research is fundamental to creating a viable Local Plan.  Ed is the member for our neighbouring Loton division and therefore shares our concerns over highways congestion and overuse of the ‘unofficial North-West Relief Road’ and should be supportive of achieving the required analysis and ensuring it is taken into account in the preparation of the Local Plan.

Grass Cutting and Bins

Work is still ongoing to get these activities back on schedule after the recent disruption.  I have spoken with Cllr David Vassmer, the Highways portfolio holder to get more information.  Apparently, they had to ‘ground the fleet’ of lawnmowers after one had a catastrophic mechanical failure and they had to inspect the rest before they could be returned to service.  Street Scene are preparing an online database of all bins and verges that are to be serviced by Shropshire Council where anyone can access to check whether a particular bin or verge has been included and its scheduled for being next taken care of.

Brendan Mallon

Councillor for Tern