Ironwork centre plan to be decided this month

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Friday, 5 April 2019 00:37

By Andrew Morris - Local Democracy Reporter

A retrospective planning application for one of the county’s biggest tourist attractions will be determined later this month, it has been confirmed.

The British Ironwork Centre, near Oswestry, has applied retrospectively for the extension and alterations to existing lawful buildings to include improvements to an existing access and change of use of land to formalise the sculpture park on part of the site.

Shropshire Council’s North Planning Committee will hear the plans on April 30 at Shirehall and determine on whether they should be given the go ahead.

Committee chairman, Paul Wynn, said: “I can confirm the Ironwork Centre application will be held at the next meeting of the committee.

“This is on April 30 at Shirehall and I have urged all committee members to ensure they are at the meeting if possible.

“This is a major application that will need to be examined thoroughly.”

It comes as Oswestry Town Council was asked by Shropshire Council to discuss the plans at a meeting on Wednesday.

A previous application, which included future aspirations for the site, off the A5, was withdrawn after two years of talks.

As part of the planning application, the centre has already outlined proposals to manage traffic on busy event days.

As part of that planning application the centre has put forward plans for changes to the access off the A5 trunk road, with the creation of a visibility splay.

In January, the centre received a boost to the plans after a report by the local highways authority confirmed it has no objections to it.

And Highways England also said that is supports the bid on the basis that certain moves are taken to manage major events.

And a report to Shropshire Council by Turley, a Manchester-based planning and economic specialist company, said the centre is worth £4 million to the local economy.

The report said: “The centre’s annual wage bill totals £1.2 million.

“As established, 85 per cent of the centre’s workers live in Shropshire, meaning that a large proportion of these wages will subsequently be spent in the local economy, supporting local businesses and services.

“The centre contributes to Shropshire Council’s funding by paying business rates of £40,000 per annum.

“This additional funding will go towards the delivery of public services, as well as investing in maintaining and enhancing infrastructure within the locality.

“This will in turn drive further associated socio-economic benefits and potentially attract further inward investment.”

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