Author: David Tooley - Local Democracy Reporter

Officials are drawing up plans to get many more young children across Telford & Wrekin ready for their first year of school.

A committee was told that the Government has set the borough a target of getting 78 per cent of reception year children to a Good Level of Development in time for year one.

Much of the debate among councillors was about what could be done to protect the next door neighbour in Pemberton Road, Admaston, who is “already in distress” at the prospect.

The application was put to a committee to decide the issue after 38 objections were made by members of the public.

A former Telford parish council leader told planners that a new £3.8 million community centre “must proceed” despite concerns that local council tax payers will have to foot the bill.

Councillors in Wellington sped through a committee meeting’s agenda in just over seven minutes before excluding the press and public.

Item eight was to close the meeting to the press and public so they could discuss a personnel report and get an update on the recent purchase of the town centre’s former Halifax bank branch.

Officials at Telford & Wrekin Council had refused permission to extend the Homelands Park site, at Mossey Green, Ketley Bank citing drainage concerns.

Officials had been concerned about how rainwater and sewage would be drained off the site and what would happen if a pump failed.

Auditor KPMG is ‘anticipating’ giving the council an “unqualified” audit report and officials told a scrutiny committee that its budget is a “really positive place to be”.

The council’s audit committee was told that technical amendments to property and pension valuations have had no effect on the final budget for 2024-25.

Telford & Wrekin Council made payments of £12,431,116 in respect of a private finance initiative (PFI) contract last year, budget papers say.

The council has a 28-year PFI contract in place for the building and servicing
of school and leisure facilities at Hadley Learning Community and Queensway for £289m.

Some 38 objections to the change of use of a three-bed family home in Pemberton Road, Admaston, to a care facility for up to three children were lodged by the public.

Applicant Turnstone Residential Ltd wants to provide a home for up to three children between the ages of seven and 17 under the care of two full-time staff members and one manager, “in a safe and secure environment”.

Twenty-six of the 33 people who left the council in 2024-25 cost the authority up to £20,000 at a total of £167,856.

One individual who departed the council in that year had a package of £132,466, with six others making up the difference to the £682,401 total, the figures reveal.

A meeting this week will be told that the current  ‘clustering’ of NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin with Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent is set to be a full ‘merger’ in 2027.

Staff who have been caught up in a government shake up of commissioning bodies will find out soon if their applications for voluntary redundancy have been accepted.

A petition and other public objections to the new Lawley & Overdale Parish Council building at Bryce Way have been lodged with Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning committee.

Parish council documents reveal that local Band D council taxes in the parish will rise by about 44p a week to help the project proceed. The money will be needed to pay off a 40-year loan with an annual fixed rate of £263,113 per annum.

Councils will be given the power to crack down on problem pavement parking but there remain question marks over how it will be enforced.

Lib Dem Councillor Thomas Janke (Newport South) asked at a Telford & Wrekin council meeting last week “when we expect these powers and associated enforcement responsibilities to be devolved to the council”.

A member of the public asked council leader Lee Carter at a meeting last week to note that some three million people had signed a national petition against the move.

Councillor Carter (Labour, Arleston & College) said he “fully understands and respects the feeling against the concept of mandatory digital ID”.

Beauty spots in Newport could be given special nature status but there will be no quick solution to chronic parking problems near one of them, a meeting heard.

After the meeting Councillor Janke posted on social media that creating a local nature reserve is a “significant milestone and will help ensure these much-loved green spaces are properly protected against development in the future, including any extension of the car park.”

A meeting this week heard that residents have concerns over child pedestrian safety, parent parking, and speeding at Cadman Drive in Priorslee.

The road is behind Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) secondary school which has more than 850 pupils on its roll.

Applicant Paul Smith has made various attempts since 2023 to make changes to his home in Jubilee Avenue, Donnington.

On two occasions a planning inspector has backed Telford & Wrekin Council’s refusals in appeal decisions.

A crowd of angry residents descended on a Telford parish council meeting to express opposition to HMOs as plans for another House in Multiple Occupancy emerge.

They spoke of an alleged stabbing incident, street drinking, drug taking, intimidating groups of people, and that one area “looks more like Beirut” with bins blocking pavements

A third generation farmer who was left wheelchair bound after a stroke has appealed after a council decision stopped him from getting a specially adapted new house on the family farm.

Telford & Wrekin Council planners had last year refused permission for James Boffey to have a wheelchair accessible oak framed house built on land at Longdon Hall Farm, in Longdon-upon-Tern, Telford.

A Telford parish council has voted by a majority for a council tax rise of 19 per cent after ‘difficult time’ in its budget discussions. Only Councillor Krajewski and Councillor Richard Tyrrell voted against.

Hollinswood & Randlay Parish Council’s decision on Monday (Jan 19, 2026) will mean a Band A rise of about 45p a week.

Cross party members of the business and finance scrutiny committee convened on Thursday (January 15) to hold the first of two scheduled meetings in the run up to the setting of the council tax.

A package of savings of £19.1 million is being drawn up including deleting vacant posts, some restructuring and a reduction in some working hours.

New houses built in Telford and Wrekin during the last year are set to bring in an extra £3.973 million in council tax, says a report.

A report to next week’s meeting of Telford & Wrekin Council has recorded that there has been an increase of 1,205 in the number of properties across the borough compared to the same time last year.

A two-hour time limit is set to be imposed on meetings of the full Telford & Wrekin Council but only after councillors clashed on the idea.

On one side of the debate at a meeting this week was a Conservative councillor who accused Telford & Wrekin Council’s ruling Labour group of “suppressing democracy”.

Plans to build a house on garden land in the Ironbridge Gorge have been rejected after planners ruled that it would ‘adversely’ affect the area.

Much of the back garden site at the property off Chapel Road, in Jackfield, is part of Telford’s Green Network at the same time as being in a world heritage site and conservation area.

Planners at Telford & Wrekin Council have certified that units 4a and 4b at Telford Bridge Retail Park are not restricted to retail use.

Agents for the owners of the retail park at Colliers Way had told the council that there is an agreement with a gym operator to take the unit.

Names of 6 Telford people who died without leaving a will have been released after a national list of unclaimed estates was reinstated.

All fully documented claims must be submitted within 30 years of the date of death.

Planners say that sites at Bratton are being “brought forward by two national house builders, Bloor Homes and David Wilson Homes.

For the land north east of Muxton, the documents reveal that developer Gladman is in the process of preparing a planning application due to be submitted in mid-2026.

Consumer champion Martin Lewis has pointed that this one way of cutting your bill could make you very unpopular with the neighbours…

The Black Shed which sits on the Water Lane car park in Newport was built in 1840 and is believed to be one of the few remaining wharf sheds in the country.

It harks back to the medieval times when the Shropshire town had a thriving fishing industry at Newport Pool. But that silted up and the canal side use has changed.

Conservative group leader Cllr Andrew Eade sparked a row when he compared a Telford & Wrekin Council finance chief to a legendary astrologer, Mystic Meg.

Labour Councillor Shirley Reynolds said: “I personally find the term Mystic Meg really insulting…”

Telford & Wrekin Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and since then has been aiming for net zero greenhouse gas emissions, with Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems all agreeing with the general approach.

Councillor Carolyn Healy (Labour, Ironbridge) is the council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, planning and sustainability and has been watching people’s responses to the issue on social media.

A new report reveals how the many millions of pounds received from developers is being allocated to provide new infrastructure across Telford and Wrekin.

The money is used to provide infrastructure for new development which cannot go ahead until contributions are agreed.

By the end of March 2025 Telford & Wrekin Council had reduced its carbon emissions by 63 per cent compared to 2018-19, the cabinet will be told next week.

The figure – some eight per cent ahead of where it was expecting to be at this stage – has been achieved by a range of measures in homes, leisure centres, and offices.

Telford & Wrekin Council is considering making £20 million in cuts next year even if it maxes out the amount it can raise in council tax.

The local authority expects to set a revenue budget of £233.453 million for 2026-27 to cope with the rising cost of social care.

Finance officers report that approximately 70 per cent of the total net budget is now dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable residents.