Campaigners issue rallying cry over hillfort homes

Campaigners fighting plans for housing development on land close to an historic hillfort have issued a rallying cry for support.

Hands Off Old Oswestry Hillfort (HOOOH) say they are urging people opposed to plans for the 100 home development near the Iron Age fort to make their feelings known before next Tuesday’s deadline.

Galliers Homes wants to build the houses in two phases on land near the Old Oswestry Hillfort.

But HOOOH says the houses will have a detrimental impact on the 3,000-year-old monument.

Oswestry and District Civic Society is the latest stakeholder to register its objections, stating that the proposed layout and house designs are “at best mediocre, and at worst atrocious”. 

In a comment on the Shropshire Council planning website, the society says the proposals “clearly conflict” with planning policy.

During the seven-year campaign against the plans by HOOOH, it says it has garnered support from history broadcasters Michael Wood, Dan Snow, Alice Roberts, Mary Beard and Tom Holland, as well as children’s author Cressida Cowell, the actor John Challis of Only Fools and Horses fame, and Ralf and Viv from Channel 4’s Gogglebox.

Kate Clarke, from HOOOH, said: “The hillfort land allocation was approved in SAMDev back in 2014 under the pressure of meeting over-ambitious housing targets and five-year housing land supply, and because there were no other viable locations. 

“Five years on, the planning imperative for this most unpopular of development sites has shifted seismically. 

“The county’s five-year housing land is in surplus and housing numbers for Oswestry are being majorly scaled back in the local plan review to 2036, while many new sites have come forward.”

The group says that the masterplan design and housing quality are “wholly inadequate” and “ignore two clear development boundaries”.

Last year, the hillfort and its setting provided the backdrop for a beacon lighting ceremony as part of national commemorations of the World War One Armistice centenary.

Ms Clarke added: “The considerable national heritage importance of the hillfort and its hinterlands together with the communal value placed on their preservation are not outweighed by the public benefits being claimed.

“We urge anyone concerned to object by November 19, as this may be your last chance.”

Galliers have said the plans are for high quality homes which are much-needed.

A spokeswoman said: “The site in question was allocated for housing via the council’s plan in 2015 and is some distance from the hillfort, being separated from it by Gobowen Road and the former railway line.

“Since we submitted our original plans for the development, we have taken on board feedback from various parties, resulting in changes to the layout and building design to ensure they are sympathetic to the local environment while providing much-needed housing for the community, including a number of starter and family homes.”

A spokesman for Shropshire Council added: “Shropshire Council currently has two applications under consideration on land allocated for housing in accordance with the council’s adopted local plan policies. 

“Both applications will be considered on their merits, taking into account the appropriate local and national planning policies, comments raised as part of the statutory consultation and other material considerations.”