Councillor calls for public to be excluded as heated Bridgnorth housing meeting bubbles over

Emotions ran high as town councillors made their recommendation for one of the two garden village developments under consideration at Tuesday's virtual meeting while being barracked by residents – until Councillor Edward Marshall stated they "had no right" to interrupt the evening's agenda.

With Stanmore receiving the nod over Tasley by the narrowest of margins, members of the public used the online platform to berate councillors and question the democratic process.

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Throughout the extraordinary meeting, which lived up to its name, the authority came under fire from residents who had logged in to view the debate via Zoom. Councillor Marshall demanded they be excluded from proceedings for stalling the evening’s agenda and said they should not disrupt the council in the middle of discussions.

With about 40 residents tuned in to the meeting, complaints about sound quality were made along with numerous residents suggesting that this was “no way to make a decision”.

Fearing they had been given a near impossible task, some councillors suggested they felt railroaded into making a decision, and Connie Baines warned residents would be “unremitting in their condemnation” if they made a recommendation one way or the other.

Councillor Clive Dyson expressed his will to “withdraw” from the conversation, claiming there were not enough details on either development to make an informed decision.

Councillor Karen Sawbridge insisted Tasley should be thrown out, and felt developers Taylor Wimpey went about their proposal in an “underhanded” way, giving little time for consultation to take place throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Councillor Ron Whittle urged fellow councillors not to sit on the fence, or it could cost them influence over the project in the future.

The meeting concluded with a motion passed for town clerk Lee Jakeman to be delegated the responsibility of forming the council’s response, in support of Stanmore, on a number of caveats.

The matter will now be considered by Shropshire Council planners on July 6.