Plans to develop a former quarry in a north Shropshire village are back before Shropshire Council – with developers hoping for success at the fourth time of asking for the site.

Applicants Bear & Co have lodged an outline application for five self-build plots on the site of a former sand quarry in Ruyton-XI-Towns, with all matters reserved except for proposed access to the site off Olden Lane.

Three previous applications stretching back to 2014 have previously been turned down by planners for the site, which sits narrowly outside existing the development boundary of the village.

In 2022, plans to develop a single dwelling on the site were turned down due to access concerns and its “open countryside” location, while an earlier scheme for four dwellings for the site was refused for the same reasons a year earlier.

However developers argue that a housing target of an extra 115 homes in the village has “very little chance” of being met, creating an exception which would allow the scheme to be approved despite being outside the boundary.

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They also say the site is joined to the village by an existing footpath and is  “clearly well-connected to the existing settlement of Ruyton-xi-Towns”.

“The development plan allows for additional sites outside the settlement development boundaries to be considered where there is a housing shortfall. It has been established that there is a housing shortfall in the village that cannot be met within the plan period with the only allocated site left undeveloped,” a planning statement submitted with the application says.

“Although the layout is a reserved matter, it is envisaged that the proposed dwellings will be to the north of the access track creating and maintaining a streetscene facing Olden Lane.

“All five units are self-build dwellings to meet to recognised need for such housing in Ruyton-xi-Towns and increase the Council’s self-build provision. It is proposed that the units would be a mix of bungalows and 2-storey properties.”

Developers say a highways report submitted with the application demonstrates that the existing access is “adequate and safe”,  which they say addresses one of the previous reasons for refusal at the site.

The plans will be decided by Shropshire Council’s planning department in due course.