Wem Town Council back classroom application at Thomas Adams – but want them permanent

The school, in Lowe Hill Road, put the application into Shropshire Council which was discussed by Wem councillors at their last meeting, with a majority of councillors supporting the application.

However, Councillor Chris Mellings queried whether it was not time for the temporary classrooms to be made permanent.

He said: “How temporary is temporary? They’re not the best of buildings but I know they serve a purpose.

“We should add the comment that we feel quite strongly that they should be made permanent. They have been there for at least 30 years.”

Councillors supported the application but with the added comment of asking when the rooms will become permanent buildings.

In other planning items, councillors voted to approve a request for the felling of trees in the Wem Conservation Area, although there are objections to it from the within the town.

However, the trees were described as a “mess” in the meeting and that the change to the area would be good for the town.

They also supported the building of extensions to form a workshop, store and utility with a new pitched roof above a garage in Sycamore Drive.

Meanwhile, in other items on the agenda at Thursday’s meeting, councillors voted to set up a BACS payment system to enable Wem Town Council employees to be paid in the same way they have always been after Shropshire Council launched its new integrated Human Resources, Payroll and Finance system on Monday.

There was also a vote on whether to increased the number of spaces on the Amenities and Services Committees so that all councillors could sit on it in order to reduce the number of full council resolutions.

However, it was proposed to review committee delegated powers at the annual meeting in May.

The town council also discussed following up with Transport for Wales regarding the removal of the ticket machine at Wem rail station.