Civil engineering firm unveils development plans at Prees

McFour Ltd has submitted a full planning application to extend its existing yard at Prees Heath, with proposals for an MOT workshop, training centre and services building on 1.9 hectares of adjacent land.

The move follows a previously withdrawn bid and comes after Shropshire Council advised that a more detailed proposal was needed.

The site, located west of the current McFour yard, is mostly fallow agricultural land.

It has been used informally for storage and staff training due to space constraints.

McFour describes part of the proposal as retrospective, as the land is already in use as a yard extension to manage business growth.

A planning statement cites correspondence from the council’s case officer in 2025 confirming that, in principle, the change of use of the land is acceptable.

Plans detail a 314-square-metre single-storey training building, a 1,227-square-metre services building and a 635-square-metre MOT workshop.

About 28 per cent of the site—around 5,350 square metres—would be set aside as an Ecological Mitigation Area.

The scheme would preserve 400-year-old trees and include rainwater harvesting for vehicle washing and irrigation.

A new internal road system is proposed to improve traffic flow and increase storage capacity.

The plan also aims to improve pedestrian safety by creating a safer environment for foot traffic.

The training building will support McFour’s apprenticeship scheme and house construction vehicle simulators and height-training facilities.

The services building would centralise currently off-site functions such as tyre fitting, small vehicle repairs, and secure storage for high-value tools.

Access would remain through the existing A49 junction, which the application states meets highway standards, including a six-metre-wide road and a 3 x 250-metre visibility splay.

A flood risk assessment found no identified flood risks for the site.

The applicant expects surface water and foul drainage details to be addressed through planning conditions.

In documents supporting the application, the architects state that McFour considered relocating to other sites but concluded that expanding in place would better support staff retention and business continuity.

The report says: "The company needs to expand. Its options are: Expand on to agricultural land they own adjacent the current yard; or b. Find an appropriate site in the vicinity; or c. Relocate to a nearby town such as Wrexham where a large-enough site could be found."