Plans for 83 homes near Old Oswestry Hillfort approved

A new development of 83 homes will be built near the nationally significant Old Oswestry Hillfort after the plans were voted through.

Shropshire Council’s Northern Planning Committee granted permission for the development after accepting the advice of planning officers, who said the harm to the Iron Age hillfort’s setting was outweighed by the benefits the new homes would bring to the area.

The committee’s decision brings to an end nearly a decade of uncertainty over the future of the site, off Whittington Road, which campaigners have been fighting to protect since it was allocated for housing in 2015.

Heritage organisations had lined up to protest the proposals, but ultimately councillors sided with the opinion of Historic England and the authority’s own conservation officers, who did not object after concluding that the scheme would cause “less than substantial” harm to the hillfort’s setting.

Dr Rachel Pope, vice president of the Prehistoric Society, spoke at the meeting on behalf of the society and the Council for British Archaeology.

She said: “Less than substantial harm is still harm, under which the National Planning Policy Framework gives a clear steer towards conservation.”

However, Stuart Wells, agent for the applicant, Cameron Homes, pointed out to the committee that when the previous plans for the site were refused, the proximity of the hillfort was not one of the reasons.

He said the developer had addressed the five previous reasons for refusal, which included environmental, highways, drainage and noise concerns.

Councillor Steve Charmley said: “In my view, I am more than happy with this. It’s a nicely laid out development of low density, with a lot of screening around it which is what we all want.”

Councillor Nat Green said it was a difficult decision, with the possibilty of either an appeal from the applicant or a judicial review from the campaigners hanging over the council depending on which way the committee went.

Ultimately members voted to approve the scheme, with nine votes for and one against.

A report to the committee said Oswestry Town Council, 128 members of the public and Helen Morgan MP had objected to the scheme.

Other objectors included action group Hands Off Old Oswestry Hillfort (HOOOH), Oswestry and Border Archaeology and History Group (OBHAG), Historic Buildings and Places, Rescue – The British Archaeological Trust, and Oswestry and District Civic Society.

The applicant’s own landscape and visual impact assessment acknowledged that the development would “substantially change” views of the hillfort from Whittington Road.

However, council officers told the committee that the site’s location near the hillfort was taken into account by the planning inspector who approved the council’s development plan in 2015.