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8 July 2010

The ‘Keep Our Town Special: Love Oswestry!’ campaign has won national recognition for their fight against four simultaneous large retail applications which would turn the high street into a ghost town. The Marsh Award for the Benefit of Rural England and a cheque for £1000 was presented by famous author Bill Bryson in his capacity of President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) at the CPRE national AGM in London on Wednesday 8 July 2010.

Bill Bryson, CPRE President, commented on the Award winners: “In my work with CPRE I have often been struck by the amazing dedication and commitment shown by our volunteers. These extraordinary people finish their working week only to sit down and do another week’s worth in their spare time. Some people retire only to start new unpaid careers as rural campaigners.

“When I came to this country I fell in love with the unique character and eccentricities of England’s towns and countryside. It’s through the work of many volunteers and people like those receiving awards today that these endearing qualities will be preserved.”

Bill Bryson with Hillary and Mike Bullen of CPRE Oswestry

The Marsh Awards are designed to recognise the unsung heroes who volunteer their time to do extraordinary things – yet go unnoticed by most of us. In this case, a small group of volunteers have managed to form a coalition of local people and businesses to fight off the invasion of four corporate giants.

The campaign has so far managed to organise a protest march of over 350 people and get 250 people to a local planning meeting, all this in a town of only 18,000 inhabitants. They are also compiling a photographic record of local shops with their staff and owners who are under threat from the developments.

The competition judges said they where particularly impressed by how the ‘Keep Oswestry Special’ campaign had brought together a broad spectrum of people and organisations from the town, as well as its innovative use of social media technology like Twitter alongside traditional publicity tools like posters and press work. 

Brian Marsh, Chairman of the Marsh Christian Trust, said: “A huge congratulation to all the CPRE winners. We set up the Marsh Award for the Benefit of Rural England to support just these sorts of grass roots volunteer initiatives and it’s a credit to the work done by CPRE volunteers that this year we needed to expand the number of grants we give out.”

The Marsh Award was collected by CPRE Oswestry chairman Mike Bullen with Hilary Bullen, Charles Green and Wendy Clews, all campaigners with CPRE Oswestry District group. So far the campaign has managed to have all the four applications put on hold with two already being revised.
 
Mike Bullen, Chairman of CPRE Oswestry said: “The award is both a surprise and a delight. We have a great team of people campaigning in Oswestry. I’d particularly like to mention Charles Green, whose detailed technical analysis has shown that there is no case for a new superstore in a town already well served by supermarkets. We have always tried to be positive during the Keep Oswestry Special campaign, the main aim of which is to protect the local shops and markets. The campaign has been successful so far because we work so closely with local groups who are full of energy and ideas.

 “The big test is coming up at the end of July when Shropshire Council will again consider the four planning applications. Our message is clear. None of these proposals will be good for Oswestry. We will be calling on county planners to support the Fifth Option, no more large scale retail development in Oswestry.”

The ‘Keep Our Town Special: Love Oswestry!’ campaign was one of three winners of Marsh awards presented at the CPRE AGM. Annually The Marsh Christian Trust presents two awards to CPRE volunteers but it was felt that the strength of this year’s nominations warranted an extra award to be handed out.

• Saving Oswestry