Tourist attraction ‘worth £4m’ to economy

A major tourist attraction seeking retrospective planning permission says it injects almost £4 million into the region’s economy.

The British Ironwork Centre in Oswestry is seeking the green light from Shropshire Council for elements of its business that were built without planning consent.

Now the centre has submitted an economic benefits summary statement to support its case.

The statement says the centre injects £3.9 million into the West Midlands economy, with £2.9 million of that concentrated in Shropshire.

It says it should also be given permission because of the 85 people it employs and the number of tourists it attracts to the county.

The report, which was submitted to Shropshire Council this week, says: “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.”

The report, which was carried out by Turley, a planning and economic company, also says the centre attracts tens of thousands of visitors into Oswestry town centre each year.

It says: “As outlined in the retail assessment, visitor surveys have established that approximately 42 per cent of the centre’s visitors were planning to undertake linked trips with Oswestry town centre as part of their visit to the centre in December 2018.

“This is a strong indication that many visitors to the centre would otherwise not have travelled to Oswestry to use the shops and services within the town centre.

“It is estimated by the applicant that the centre attracts 150,000 to 200,000 visitors per year.

“Based on the results of the above visitor survey, this broadly equates to a linked trip generation of 63,000 to 84,000 visits to Oswestry town centre per year.

“Assuming a modest linked trip average spend of £10 per trip, the consequential economic spin-off benefit for Oswestry town centre’s businesses range between £630,000 to £840,000 per year.

“It should be noted that this is a conservative estimate and that the spin-off benefits generated by the centre for Oswestry town centre and local economy are likely to be far higher.

“This expenditure helps support employment in leisure and retail businesses in Oswestry town centre.

“Through application of analysis of the average annual turnover per leisure and retail employee in the West Midlands, it is estimated that the centre’s visitor expenditure supports a further six jobs in Oswestry town centre.

“This boosts the vitality and viability of local shops and businesses, and helps sustain essential local services.”

The report concludes that the centre should be given retrospective approval because of the positive impact on the local economy.

It adds: “The development serves to maintain growth in employment and productivity in the visitor economy, in what is identified by the council as a key growth sector that should be supported in the current uncertain economic climate.”