Browsing 'Planning'
Planned housing development at Wilfred Owen’s birthplace moves ahead
(Photo: Dogfael. Some rights reserved)
The owners of Wilfred Owen’s birthplace, Plas Wilmot, are pressing ahead with their plans to build seven large houses on the orchard and paddock next to the historic house.
The development will extend in a semicircle to the west of the house.
Outline planning permission was granted by Shropshire Council last ...
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Less Swings and Roundabouts
(Image: Screenshots of Despair)
This government still believes in Neighbourhood Plans. Eden Valley, Cumbria is the first to complete theirs and have a referendum, which was a resounding yes vote. I have not yes checked what the turnout was so the degree of resounding must be tempered until I have, I will post in the comments.
The fact that Oswestry ...
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2020 how Oswestry lost out on 10% of its CIL
Cash incentives for development
Many of you will have heard Planning Minister Nick Boles announce that communities which tackle housing shortages by allowing new development will receive cash bonuses from the Community Infrastructure Levy. This is a new levy which local authorities in England and Wales can choose to charge on new developments in ...
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2020 consultation extended
The deadline for completing the Oswestry 2020 online survey has been extended till 7 January.
Participation was looking thin as the original deadline approached.
Clearly, this extension is a Good Thing, as the council and other public bodies will be basing a lot of their future decisions on the answers people give.
If you haven't already filled your ...
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Survey needs a surge . . .
As of last Friday, 286 people had completed the on-line residents’ questionnaire at www.oswestry2020.co.uk .
The households it is targeted at number 16,000: 8,000 within Oswestry, and a further 8,000 in its surrounding area. These households are made up of some 35,000 people.
The 286 number does not amount to the sum total of opinions actually canv ...
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Comments that count
(Photo: consultation at the Bailey Head during the switching on of Oswestry's Christmas lights)
Oswestry is spending up to £36,000 on consulting people who live in and use the town.
The aim is to arrive at a strategy for the town's future development.
When public bodies make decisions in coming years, they will refer to the plan that results from t ...
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Nightmare on Lloyd Street – the outcome
Earlier this year Martin’s Stores in Lloyd Street stopped trading after 30 years in business.
Changes in shopping habits meant that the business was no longer viable as the corner shop it had long been.
Its owner, Howard Martin, announced his intention to reopen the business as a chip shop.
But in May, Shropshire council’s north planning committ ...
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Lilliput revisited
United Trust Bank has wheeled out a representative and a couple of planning consultants to talk up its application to squeeze five houses onto the unkempt and long unoccupied patch of land on Oswalds Well Lane.
The bank became reluctantly responsible for the site after the bankruptcy of a developer.
In his pitch to Oswestry’ ...
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Morda’s edge
A construction company has held a public consultation on plans to develop some of the remaining green space between Oswestry and Morda.
The indicative plans showed 85 homes on the site, sandwiched between Love Lane and Morda Bank. They also showed land to the south, towards the river Morda, as green space. Agents of the builder, ...
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Lilliputian development for Oswalds Well Lane
Another attempt is being made to squeeze a number of small dwellings onto the vacant strip of land on Oswalds Well Lane, off Upper Brook Street. This time, the developers are citing the coalition government’s relaxation of planning laws in support of their scheme.
This is the fourth in a succession of proposals for this long-em ...
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Ombudsman’s verdict on Oswestry supermarket decision
The Oswestry Coalition of OS21, CPRE and the Civic Society campaigned for over 3 years against the building of a new supermarket in Oswestry. And now the glacially slow investigation into proceedings surrounding the conduct of the planning meeting in October 2010 that approved the Smithfield scheme has finally reached its termin ...
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McLarens building to be restored
A major part of the old Cambrian railway works on Gobowen Road will be brought into use as office space, if an application to convert it is approved.
The offices will provide space to employ about 80 people, with scope for further conversion at a later date.
According to the application “the building owner is now in a po ...
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Two cheers for Morrisons!
(Photo: Roadsidepictures Some rights reserved)
It was reported on this website on January 20th 2012 that Morrisons spokesman, James French ruled out his company’s interest in the Smithfield site saying ‘I can say with 99% certainty that we will not be bidding for a site in Oswestry.’ They must have changed their minds as we now know that they are ...
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Our plan
(Photo: Screenshots of Despair)
A community plan is being put together for Oswestry, setting out how we want to see our town develop over a decade or more.
It’s hard to exaggerate how important it is. It is a statement of the will of the people. Any initiative for change or growth in the town, in future, has to be tested against i ...
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Oswestry job sums don’t add up
A combination of ambitious housing expansion and planning and market failures leaves Oswestry facing a potential planning car crash.
Targets set by both Shropshire and Town councils mean that the amount of housing in Oswestry should grow by a third in 15 years. 2,600 houses will be added to the current 8,000 by 2026.
But e ...
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Selling the future
(Photo: rojabro Some rights reserved)
How do you sell something you can’t easily explain? Even though it will have a bigger impact on our future than lots of other things you can explain very well?
That’s the problem faced by a group of people currently working on our town’s future.
They aren’t helped by the f ...
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Wilfred Owen’s birthplace to become a listed building?
English Heritage is considering whether Wilfred Owen’s birthplace, Plas Wilmot, should be listed.
Oswestry’s Civic Society began the listing process last March, when it became clear that a developer intended to build seven detached homes in the orchard and paddock of the old house.
The Society asked Shropshire’s nort ...
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Escaping Tumbleweed Alley
Mary Portas does not address the real problems of town centres, according to a new report.
Written by big commercial property consultancy GVA, the report dismisses the Portas recommendations, although “sensible,” as merely palliative care rather than the cure ailing town centres like Oswestry’s need.
It identifies ...
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Gateway to Oswestry – a town with low self-esteem?
So the gateway to Oswestry is to be a drive-thru KFC and a drive-thru Starbucks.
These out-of-town food outlets at the Mile End roundabout will soon be followed by three others, planned for the new Smithfield shopping complex, sponsored by our Town Council.
The KFC scheme did not receive the dignity of a discussion by Shro ...
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New Housing near Old Oswestry Hillfort
One of the features of Oswestry that makes it unique is the Iron Age Hill Fort, known as ‘Old Oswestry’ and sometimes ‘The Earthworks’. It has been described by English Heritage as 'the most hugely impressive Iron Age Hill Fort on the Welsh Borders' and unique in being placed on the plain instead of on a hill top
It is linked to Arthurian legend. ...
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