'Chocolate box' village gets green light

Bournville has been named the nicest place to live in Britain

Plans to recreate a famous urban village on the edges of a new town have received outline planning approval.

The development, planned for a former industrial wasteland in Telford, has been granted outline permission by local authority planning chiefs.

Work on the development could start as early as next year with the plans based on the Bournville Village development in Birmingham.

Officials at Bournville Village Trust (BVT), the charitable foundation which manages the Birmingham estate, claim the proposals for Lightmoor village will provide the final piece of the jigsaw in Telford.

The plans for the 178-acre site, close to the historic heart of the industrial revolution at Ironbridge Gorge, includes around 800 homes of which at least 25% will be affordable housing.

Chocolate empire

The BVT, which is running the project with English Partnerships, describes the proposals as "a mixed-use village centre" including shops and schools.

Bournville was founded by the Victorian philanthropist and chocolate factory boss George Cadbury.

He established Bournville over 100 years ago to provide decent, affordable housing for ordinary working people in the south-west of Birmingham, close to his growing chocolate empire.

Recently billed as the nicest place to live in Britain, the village features 7,000 homes, a green, leisure amenities and a parade of traditional community shops.