Oswestry Masterplan will drive ambitions for town

A masterplan vision for Oswestry is just the beginning of a project to drive aspirations and thinking about the future of the town.

A presentation has been given to members of Shropshire Council, Oswestry Town Council and Oswestry BID, giving a starting point to begin the discussion over how the town could be potentially shaped in years to come.

No decisions have been made, and the presentation is to form the basis of discussions with partners and key stakeholders about how they see the future of the town developing.

Mark Barrow, Shropshire Council’s executive director of place, said:-

“A lot has been said about this very early version of the presentation looking at aspirations for the future of Oswestry. Last week a presentation was made to representatives of the town council, BID board members and Shropshire Councillors.

“The purpose of this session was to gauge initial responses to the emerging proposals in advance of a stakeholder workshop in March 2021.

“A synopsis of this presentation will be made available to all stakeholders invited, prior to the workshop. The rationale for not forwarding the full presentation and proposals in advance is because we feel that the proposals need to be seen in context, which will be covered by the wider presentation and discussions.

“Nothing has been decided or agreed – this is all about getting the ball rolling with ideas.”

Mark Barrow said the next key stakeholder workshop is scheduled for Thursday 4 March 2021, which is primarily to feed back and test the visions, thinking and the aspirations that are coming out of the plan.

This session will further shape the masterplan outputs/outcomes, and we envisage that this will be the stepping stone for further detailed work with stakeholders.

He added:-

“It should be noted that the overarching strategic masterplan will be a document which will initiate further discussions, engagement and workstreams with all key stakeholders, to establish if any possible proposals/actions that come out of the masterplan could and should be worked up in the short, medium and long term.

“The engagement of stakeholders will be crucial in this next stage of work, to progress the strategic vision into a working action plan.”