Compulsory Purchase Order triggered for Shrewsbury Flaxmill development

A compulsory purchase order (CPO) has been published for two Shrewsbury takeaways to enable the final phases of the multi-million pound redevelopment.

LRS provided Land Referencing Services to the Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, which is one of the county’s most historic buildings.

Shropshire Council granted planning permission to Historic England for a mixed use development on the Spring Gardens site. It includes new housing and commercial, business and service uses.

Refurbishment

The Flaxmill Maltings in Ditherington has undergone a major programme of refurbishment over the last five years. An office space and a visitor centre have been created. Historic England has said the completion of the scheme depends on the redevelopment of the land to the front.

Councillors considered it so important to the future of the town that they issued a notice of a CPO.

Notices have appeared in the area around the site, with a deadline of July 22 for any objections.

Historic

The Main Mill at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, with its pioneering iron frame, is the first ever iron framed building. It is one of eight listed buildings on site.

The Mill opened in 1797 as a purpose-built flax mill. Since then, the site has grown and been repurposed and adapted many times. It was a maltings from 1897 to 1987 and temporary army barracks during the Second World War.

Numbers one and 15 Haughmond Square are currently occupied by the Chilli Spice and Spring Garden takeaways. Attempts to negotiate with the current owners of the buildings have been unsuccessful.

Planning permission to return the two take away buildings to residential use was granted last year, along with the construction of 120 new homes and two commercial buildings.

Built in the 19th century, numbers one and 15 once framed the entrance to Haughmond Square. The approved plans will see this historic gateway into the Flaxmill site reinstated.

Benefits

The new report, by the Council’s Director of Place Mark Barrow said:

“In order to realise the plethora of public benefits which the Flaxmill Maltings project has the potential to deliver, it is essential that this final stage of development is reached, implemented and completed.

“Moreover, it will secure the site’s long-term and sustainable future in order that its legacy may be safeguarded and continue for the benefit of all, including the local and wider communities and visitors to the town of Shrewsbury.

“The scheme is therefore vital to ensuring the overall success of the Flaxmill’s regeneration, and without which fourth stage, and the full delivery of the Flaxmill project and associated public benefits, is in jeopardy.”

The new report, by the Council’s Director of Place Mark Barrow said:

“In order to realise the plethora of public benefits which the Flaxmill Maltings project has the potential to deliver, it is essential that this final stage of development is reached, implemented and completed.

“The scheme is therefore vital to ensuring the overall success of the Flaxmill’s regeneration, and without which fourth stage, and the full delivery of the Flaxmill project and associated public benefits, is in jeopardy.”