Article 4: The Safety Catch They Refuse to Pull
Shropshire residents dared to believe their Council might actually protect them. They asked, quite reasonably: “Please, use an Article 4 Direction to stop our town being carved into overcrowded HMOs.”
Article 4, for the uninitiated, is dead simple: it takes away the automatic right for landlords to turn houses into mini-hostels. It forces them to apply for planning permission, giving the community a say. Think of it as a safety catch on the developer’s gun.
Common Sense? Not in Shropshire
But in Shropshire Council land, that safety catch is permanently jammed. Instead of leadership, we got an email from the Monitoring Officer explaining that, well, this isn’t really a matter of policy — just “development management.” Translation: don’t ask us, ask the invisible man in the next office.
Lions Led by Donkeys
This is how lions are led by donkeys.
– Residents roar for action.
– Government guidance is clear: Article 4 can and should be used.
– Shropshire Council brays, shrugs, and trots off to greener pastures of inaction.
Streets for Families, or Rabbit Hutches for Profit?
And the consequences? Streets crammed with HMOs, parking wars on every kerb, rubbish bags breeding like rabbits, and family homes priced out of reach. All while the Council refines its only real skill: passing the buck with the precision of Olympic relay runners.
The Council’s Olympic Sport: Buck-Passing
If this were the First World War, Shropshire would be the general ordering men over the top with a whistle and a shrug — while the real fight rages on the ground. Only here, the casualties are our communities, our streets, and our chance of affordable housing.
What’s Next — Article 5: No Questions Allowed?
What’s next — an “Article 5” banning residents from asking questions? An “Article 6” ensuring that transparency is rationed to one blurry PDF per year?
They Could Act. They Won’t.
Shropshire Council can act. They just don’t want to. They’d rather hide behind jargon than face residents head-on. Lions led by donkeys, indeed — and the donkeys are wearing very expensive lanyards.
The Final Verdict
So let’s stop pretending: Shropshire Council isn’t short of powers, it’s short of backbone. Article 4 is sitting on the shelf gathering dust while our streets are picked clean by developers. The lions — the people of Shropshire — are roaring for action. The donkeys — our councillors and officers — are too busy braying about procedure to hear them. And when the history of this housing fiasco is written, it won’t read “they couldn’t act.” It will read “they wouldn’t act.”
Postscript: Snouts in the Trough
And while we’re on the subject of powers the Council can use but won’t — did you notice they had no such hesitation when it came to their own allowances? A cool 3.6% rise voted through, irrespective of Shropshire’s financial black hole, services cut to the bone, and residents drowning in council tax.
Funny, isn’t it? Article 4 for communities is “too complicated, not policy, beyond our reach.” But an Article 4 for their own wallets? That’s waved through quicker than a taxi at last orders.
The Alternative Council 