Saving Oswestry:
78% say no more Supermarkets
CPRE Shropshire
Protecting Shropshire
Oswestry is the largest market town in Shropshire with a population of around 17,000. It is the main employment, commercial and administrative centre in the north west of the county and serves a wide rural hinterland which extends into Wales. It is currently threatened by four competing retail applications, one of which is being promoted by the town council.
It is time to say NO to excessive retail development in Oswestry. 78% of shoppers responding to a Shropshire Council survey say they do not want another supermarket in Oswestry.
Oswestry Farmers Market April 2010
29 July 2010. Central Car Park scheme rejected, others on hold
CPRE Shropshire and its coalition partners welcomed today’s decision to reject plans for a superstore on the Central Car Park in Oswestry. Speaking after the Strategic Development Committee threw out the proposal on a vote of 8 to 2, Mike Bullen Chairman of CPRE Oswestry said:
“This is absolutely the right decision. The scheme would have led to gridlock in the centre of Oswestry. The proposed store was far too large for the town and would have drawn too much trade from other shops, threatening the survival of small traders. The design would also have severely damaged the conservation area and made the life of residents a misery.”
The Strategic Development Committee said that traffic generated by the scheme could not be accommodated, that it failed to preserve and enhance a conservation area and would have a negative impact on residents’ amenity and the town centre.
The committee deferred consideration of the three out-of-centre schemes at Burbidge, Hughes and Smithfield until the autumn.
Mike Bullen concluded: “This is a good day for Oswestry. I would like to thank all those who have worked tirelessly for months to demonstrate that there is a clear case for rejecting this scheme. There is an equally clear case for rejecting the remaining three schemes and we will be calling on the committee doing so in the autumn.”
CPRE and its coalition partners, Oswestry 21 and Oswestry Civic Society, have campaigned for the 5th Option, no more superstores in Oswestry.
22 July 2010. Coalition publishes final evidence for 5th Option
Today, CPRE Oswestry, Oswestry Civic Society and Oswestry 21 submitted two detailed reports to Shropshire Council planners. More...
13 July 2010. New Oswestry Poster. "Bill Bryson backs the 5th Option"
Bill Bryson backs the 5th Option
10 June 2010. Last chance to object to the supermarket applications
Objections to the destructive supermarket proposals need to be submitted in the next ten days, the sooner the better. It is time to say "No" to more supermarkets and "Yes" to the 5th Option. More…
9 June 2010. Campaign coalition publishes leaflet setting out case for the 5th Option – No more supermarkets in Oswestry
8 June 2010. “Small Island” author Bill Bryson hands national prize to Oswestry campaigners
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. More...
18 May 2010. Store plans will bring traffic misery to the streets of Oswestry
Campaigners say a bid to introduce a new gyratory traffic scheme to the centre of Oswestry will, if approved, lead to regular gridlock, reduce pedestrian safety and damage the character of the market town. The plans are part of a revised bid by developers J Ross to build a large retail scheme on the Central Car Park. More...
10 May 2010. Urgent appeal to save Oswestry’s Railway heritage
The Campaign to Protect Rural England and Oswestry Civic Society are calling for the stronger protection for the Cambrian Railway buildings which are under severe threat of demolition to make way for a new supermarket complex. More...
18 March 2010: Crucial day for Oswestry
4.30pm. Planners decide to defer all four applications for three months. CPRE's Andy Boddington says "A deferral was inevitable given the complexity of the applications. We would have preferred outright rejection of all four, as none meets the requirements of PPS4 or Oswestry. The turnout was incredible with 250 people attending to hear the decision. We now have three months to rework our very strong case before the next meeting."
6.00am. Today, the Strategic Planning Committee of Shropshire Council meets to decide on the Oswestry retail applications. The coalition of CPRE Shropshire, Oswestry 21 and Oswestry Civic Society is calling for all the applications to be rejected. We will be tweeting news from the meeting as the decisions are made.
- Read our tweets from the meeting
- Follow cpreshropshire on Twitter
11 March 2010. Planners recommendations published
The agenda papers for the 18 March Strategic Planning Committee of Shropshire Council were published today. Planning officers are recommending :
- DEFERRAL for 3 months of Burbidge site while a supermarket on the Central Car Park is investigated
- REFUSAL of the current Central Car Park site proposal on traffic grounds
- REFUSAL of TJ Hughes site
- REFUSAL of the Smithfield bid backed by Town Council.
CPRE Shropshire, with its allies Owestry 21, Oswesty Civic Society and the Chamber of Trade will be commenting once we have examined the papers in detail.
6 March 2010. 350 people march against the supermarket applications
Date: 6 March. Time: 11am. Location: Oswestry. 350 people joined a cheerful and colourful protest against the supermarket applications.
15 February 2010. Poster and leaflet campaign launched to Save Oswestry
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On 18 March 2010, Shropshire Council planners meet to consider the four retail applications for Oswestry. If any one of the applications are approved, Oswestry’s future as a vibrant market town will be undermined. To raise awareness of the decisions date and its importance for Oswestry, a coalition of OS21, Civic Society, CPRE and the Chamber of Trade are orchestrating a poster campaign around the town. A leaflet will also be delivered to all households in the SY11-1 and SY10-1 postal districts shortly. Too many town centres have been destroyed by excessive retail development on the outskirts of town. Wrexham is a prime example. A shopping survey prepared for Advantage West Midlands and Shropshire Council by Skillsmart Retail Ltd in December 2009, gives a positive picture of the health of the retail scene in Oswestry town centre and reports that 78% of those interviewed did not want another supermarket in the town. |
| It is time to say NO to excessive retail development in Oswestry. Support us on Twitter by using the avatar on the left. Follow us on Twitter For more information on this campaign see the news entries below and: See also our Local Food Web campaign in Shrewsbury. |
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1 January 2010. Letter to Daily Telegraph
A CPRE Shropshire letter published in the Daily Telegraph says allowing town halls to be given more control over planning decisions offers market towns, including Oswestry, and small traders hope. More...
29 December 2009. CPRE says new planning guidance could be good news for Oswestry supermarket battle
Reacting to new government planning guidance issued today, Andy Boddington, Vice Chairman of CPRE Shropshire said:
“This could be welcome news for Oswestry, where applications have been made for four new retail developments, three of which are out-of-town. The new rules say that the impact of the proposals on high street shops and markets must be assessed before Shropshire Council decides on the planning applications. This assessment now needs to be completed urgently and independently. We are confident that it will show that these proposals will undermine Oswestry's high street."
20 December 2009. Council Skillsmart survey shows shoppers do not want new Oswestry supermarket
- Over three-quarters of respondents (78%) do not think Oswestry needs a new supermarket
- Four in five respondents (80%) feel that there is a good variety of independent shops in the town centre.
July 2009. CPRE says there is no need for out-of-town supermarkets at Oswestry
"There is no need for out-of-town supermarkets at Oswestry and they will damage the town’s existing town centre shops." That’s the message from Mike Bullen, Chairman of CPRE Oswestry, as the campaign group publishes a new critique of the retail studies that purport to present a case for the developments. "Oswestry is in danger of being swamped by one or more unnecessary and over-size supermarkets, and it could be the end of independent shopping in our town centre" Mike continues. "Do the people really want bland supermarket aisles instead of a vibrant market town, with local shops selling local produce? No, they do not - but the planning juggernaut seems to be marching on regardless of what is good for Oswestry."
January 2009. CPRE joins OS21 and Civic Society coalition
A coalition has been formed to fight the retail plans: Oswestry21 (OS21) , CPRE and Oswestry Civic Society, with an affiliation with the Oswestry Chamber of Commerce. All four organisations object to the Smithfield, Burbidge and J T Hughes supermarket applications on the grounds that due process regarding the test of sequentiality has not been carried out, town centre sites have not been investigated before considering edge-of-town and out-of-town supermarket and retail proposals.
November 2008: CPRE calls for Liberty Mercian Smithfield application to be rejected
CPRE Oswestry District has called on Oswestry Borough Council to refuse the Liberty Mercian planning application for the Smithfield site. Our letter of objections makes it clear that we would welcome office and business development on the Smithfield site, as well as a cinema, thereby providing employment for local people, but feels that there are no planning reasons for either convenience or comparison shopping to be located on this out of town site.
- Letter of objection
- Enclosure No. 1. The Planning Issues
- Enclosure No. 2. Analysis of the need for Out of Town Retail Development
- Enclosure No. 3. CPRE report “Does Oswestry need a large Retail Development outside the Town Centre?
October 2008. Liberty Mercian out-of-town proposal submitted
On 8 October 2008 an application for outline planning for the out-of town, Smithfield site was submitted to Oswestry Borough Council. CPRE Oswestry will strongly oppose this application from Liberty Mercian. Mike Bullen, Chairman of CPRE Oswestry District said "If approved, this proposal could be the death knell for Oswestry town centre. It is sheer madness to build a large retail park on the outskirts when there is suitable space in the centre. What Oswestry needs is sensitive retail development in its town centre that gives a boost to local shops and preserves its character as a historic market town."
CPRE is committed to fighting these unnecessary and damaging out-of-town developments and keeping Oswestry as a thriving market town.
August 2008. CPRE report rejects NLP retail analysis
Oswestry will become a bland town dominated by clone shops, a report by CPRE's Oswestry District concludes. Current ambitions to develop a large retail park outside the town centre will destroy the character of an historic market town and put local traders, selling local goods out of business.
The case for out of town retail parks presented in a report by Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners to Oswestry Borough Council is flawed. CPRE has examined NLP’s figures in detail and found them to be based on twenty seven assumptions, many quite unjustified. It concludes that the Oswestry Retail Study has failed to make a case for either a large out-of-town convenience supermarket, or the need for any comparison shops to be built, outside the town centre.
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