Please find here Notices of Elections to take place in May 2025

- for the Unitary Authority, Shropshire Council

- and for Prees Parish Council

The following information about the works at around the crossroads in Prees has been received from Shropshire Council Streetworks Dept.

"Following a joint site meeting with SP and their contractors, a way forward has been agreed in order for work to recommence from Monday 3^rd March for an approximate 2 week period in order for the connection works to be completed.

The work will involve a further temporary road closure of Whitchurch road (due to the location of a large “joint bay” at the junction with Mill street), temporary traffic signals operational on Whitchurch road to accommodate a further joint hole, and “Give & Take/Priority signing” traffic control on Mill street for the duration.

Crucially the joint site meeting was able to identify an alternative method of working and traffic control on Mill street which negated the need for a consecutive road closure with Whitchurch road (as was the previous assessment) which means through access will be available and monitored on Mill Street for the remainder of the scheme.

In order to maintain through access along Mill street there will be a need for parked cars to be temporarily moved to allow sufficient road width. SP and their contractors O’Connor’s will be carrying out a letter drop and further door to door liaison with residents to inform – this is scheduled to take place at least 10 days prior to planned commencement."

At a meeting last night 4.2.25, Charlotte Prince from Wrekin Housing explained the problem that is holding up the completion of the 27 new homes on Whitchurch Road.

As most people know, a culvert was uncovered close to the junction of Mill Street and Whitchurch Road. The team working on the connection here in January discovered that they had not been given enough room in the road to do the necessary work. Getting the space they needed would involve a re-think of how traffic around the area was managed, for example traffic lights and road closures. These arrangements cannot be imposed overnight: agreements have to be reached and residents have to be given notice.

It is hoped that the new final phase of work to connect the electricity will start on 3 March, but it could possibly start a week later on 10 March. It will continue for 2 weeks. There will be road traffic management in place during this time. Residents affected will be informed by highways or SPEN on the management plan once finalised.

It is expected that there will be electricity to the site by 17 April 2025. There may be brief power outages for other residents while this is achieved.

Once electricity is on site, meters will be installed in the new homes. Hot water and central heating systems will need to be commissioned. Final checks of all the details (‘snagging’) itself will take two weeks.

Hand-over, if everything goes to plan, should be mid-May. At that point there will be no further delay: tenants can move in the same day.

The homes are completely ready except for electricity. As Tim Wilkes, Clerk of Works on the project confirms, rumours of condensation and black mould are unfounded and untrue. The homes are ready and waiting for occupation as soon as the power is connected. They will be worth the wait.

K Sieloff

clerk to Prees PC

***

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Please follow this link to read important information concerning a current significant local outbreak of Avian Flu. 

This is a continuation of earlier works for SPEN to provide a main supply to the new housing estate being built next to the medical centre on Whitchurch Road. Due to engineering issues discovered in the initial works, where we discovered a culvert on Whitchurch Road, we had to pull off and reassess our route and method of works to complete this scheme.

We will be revisiting the area between 13^th January 2025 and 24^th January 2025, with a road closure required for 1 week between 13^th January and 19^th January on Whitchurch Road between the 4-way junction at the post office, and the bus stop on Whitchurch Road, please see below.

Please see the attached Traffic Management CAD to show the diversion which will be put in place. This will send people down the A49 via Shrewsbury Street to avoid the closure.

Wrekin Housing has announced that the general-needs two-bedroom bungalows are now advertised for tenancy bids on their own website.  

This should give a chance to all of those who could not apply through Homepoint to do so now.

Wrekin letting team say they will work through the shortlist on a first come first served basis.

The list of criteria that can prove Local Connection is attached.

Wrekin Housing has confirmed that the new homes at the Whtichurch Road site in Prees will not be ready for occupation until February 2025.

The final electricity connections bringing electricity to the site still have to be made and these need agreements between the parties; road closures; notices to residents etc. In addition there is a Christmas embargo on road closures county-wide in Shropshire.

For these reasons it will be January before the site gets electricity and this should enable hand-over of homes ready for occupation in February.

The delay does enable the very time-consuming checking of Local Connection claims to be done systematically and thoroughly by Wrekin officers, ensuring the criteria are properly implemented.

Two of the adapted bungalows have been allocated directly by Shropshire Council to persons whose needs are for Accessible/Adaptable properties, it has been confirmed that the people involved meet the local connection criteria.

With regards to the Shared Ownership homes, all six are now reserved. No applications had been received from any Prees residents, so applications were allowed from people living within the second localities band i.e. within 10 kilometres of the site, bringing in areas such as Wem and Whitchurch.

The new two-bedroom bungalows available to rent at the new development on Whitchurch Road in Prees are being re-advertised following the decision to allow applications from single occupants.  

THOSE WHO APPLIED FOR TENANCY  BEFORE ARE ADVISED BY WREKIN HOUSING TO APPLY AGAIN.

Any enquiries please phone Wrekin Housing Lettings team on 01952 217336

At a meeting last night (8.10.24) it was confirmed by Wrekin Housing that NONE of the rental homes have yet been allocated to tenants as the Wrekin Lettings team is taking the time to carefully scrutinise all bids to ensure the homes are offered to those with the correct Local Connections.  

If you have any concerns about whether your application highlighted your Local Connection please speak to the Wrekin Housing Lettings Team: telephone Zoe Prince on 01952 217336.

There is also one three-bedroom Shared Ownership home currently still available for purchase.  For details of the house and the Scheme go to www.wrekin.com

Or if you are interested phone Wrekin on 01952 217444

The Audit for 2023-24 is completed.  Please see the Reports and Audits section, under the Parish Council heading, for the following documents:

• Notice of Conclusion of Audit 
• Annual  Governance Statement
• Annual Accounting Statement
• External Auditor's Report

The 4 x 2 bedroom bungalows will be re-advertised on 2.10.24 on Shropshire Homepoint website.

Single occupants and couples/families assessed as having only one-bedroom need, as well as those with need for 2 bedrooms, will be able to apply for them.

Suitability will be subject to an affordability assessment.

IF YOU APPLIED PREVIOUSLY FOR ONE OF THESE BUNGALOWS YOU WILL NEED TO RE-APPLY.

6 more Affordable homes at the new Whitchurch Road development have been released for bids from potential tenants (as from yesterday 18.9.24)

3 x 3-bedroom houses

1 x 3-bedroom wheelchair standard bungalow

2 x 2-bedroom accessible/adaptable bungalows

Applications must be made  through Shropshire Council Homepoint.

These homes are intended for local people, and when applications are considered the priority factor is the Local Connection claim. 

Applications must be made through Shropshire Council Homepoint, but it is not Homepoint who check the Local Connection claims.  Homepoint presents Wrekin Housing  with a short-list of applicants prioritised according to housing need, but Wrekin Lettings oficers then  filter the list further to pull out only those applicants who meet the Local Connection criteria.

The first batch of brand new homes for rent, four 1-bed houses and four 2-bed bungalows, has been released for bids by potential tenants.

Please see Shropshire Council's Homepoint website for details.

If you are registered with Homepoint you can bid on one of these homes now.

Enquiries to Wrekin's Lettings Officer Zoe Prince on 01952 217336.

The new homes on Whitchurch Road behind the Medical Centre, built for local people, are expected to be ready for occupation in November.

The ONLY way to apply to rent one of the houses as a tenant is through Shrophire Council’s Homepoint.

The first batch of homes is expected to be  advertised on the Homepoint website on Wednesday 11 September 2024  and this will be the first  opportunity to bid for one of the houses, as they are advertised. Please see the document attached below for a full explanation of the process.

Further batches of homes will be released at weekly intervals.

If you are interested in occupying one of these new homes you must first be registered with Shropshire Council Homepoint.

You can do this on-line: go to  www.shropshirehomepoint.co.uk

Or telephone: 0300 303 8595.

HOMEPOINT IS CURRENTLY EXTREMELY BUSY PROCESSING APPLICATIONS, SO TO ENSURE YOURS IS CONSIDERED FOR THE NEW PREES HOMES PLEASE MAKE SURE TO FLAG UP THE INFO REGARDING LOCAL CONNECTIONS ON YOUR APPLICATION ( THERE IS A SECTION WHERE THIS CAN BE HIGHLIGHTED.)  THIS WILL ENSURE APPLICATIONS FROM LOCAL PEOPLE CAN BE IDENTIFIED AND ASSIST WITH THE REGISTRATION PROCESS.)

For help please email the Parish Council clerk or phone her on 07526 962705.

There is also one remaining home available for Shared Ownership. This is a three-bedroom semi-detached house. 

Details available from www.wrekin.com or www.onthemarket.com

or telephone 01952 476134

Please find all relevant documents pertaining to the financial Audit for the year ending March 31 2024 under Notices under the Parish Council heading.

Freedom Fibre is in the process of rolling-out its fast full-fibre broadband network to homes and businesses in North Shropshire.

Whilst the Company is largely able to make use of the existing network of telegraph poles and underground ducting, it is necessary for it to install some new infrastructure.

Under existing planning legislation, Freedom Fibre is able to install masts and poles less than 15m high in many locations without being subject to planning consent.  It has provided the Parish Council with the geographical coordinates of some 160 telegraph poles it intends to install in Prees Parish.  The attached pdf file states the coordinates of the proposed location of every new pole in Prees Parish.  These can be entered directly into a number of computer-based mapping applications including Bing Maps and Google Maps.  The coordinates are stated in degrees and decimal degrees as latitude (North) followed by longitude (East), with the longitude being a negative number indicating 'West'.

For example, the coordinates of the first pole on the list are stated as: 

52.8748057  -2.6526637

This could also be written as:

N52.8748057  W2.6526637

Entering these coordinates into the 'Search' box in either Google Maps or Bing Maps shows that the proposed location of this new pole is on the A49 near to the junction of Nook Lane.

Freedom Fibre has stated that in line with statutory obligations, they will display official notices detailing the proposed telegraph poles on nearby street furniture for 28 days before their planned installation.

Freedom Fibre has stated that the Company is keen to proactively engage with residents and community leaders as much as possible.  

Residents with questions or queries should visit www.freedomfibre.com/faq-poles 

Update on Progress at Community-Led development Whitchurch Road

Apart from one bungalow, which is being considered for early allocation to an exceptional case of local need, none of the other homes have been provisionally allocated.

The allocation process will not begin until 2-3 months before the completed homes are handed over for occupation. Completion will not be before November 2024.

Currently the builders are only able to do minor infrastructure works due to the fact that main electricity connections have not been completed to the site.

The previous building contractors had based their proposals on the belief that a connection to an existing transformer would be sufficient to service the new homes.

However, when approached, Scottish Power advised that a new separate sub-station would be required , and that they would not be able confirm their programme to install , until all necessary legal documents have been completed .

In order for the access road to be adopted (and thereafter maintained) by Shropshire Council, two small areas of land leased by the Medical Centre and owned by the Grocott Family Charitable Trust need to be encroached on as part of the access footpath and road.

Shropshire Council will not agree to adopt the road unless the footpath can be included.

Three sets of lawyers are currently working on the agreements and it is believed that their work is nearly complete.

If you are interested in occupying one of these new homes, the only application route is through Shropshire Council’s Homepoint scheme.

You must be registered with the scheme to be considered.

Go online at   www.shropshirehomepoint.co.uk  or telephone 0300 303 8595.

Shropshire Council has installed a number of EV chargers for the convenience of owners of electric vehicles in its car park at Prees Village Hall in Church Street, Prees.

All details are available via the ZapMap app or via  http://smartkerb.com  which is the company operating them. 

Collection of domestic green waste will no longer be a free service provided by Shropshire Council from October 2024.  If you wish to continue to use this service you will need to sign up to pay.  Please see attached leaflet for all details.