English Heritage is criticised for Oswestry U-turn
English Heritage has come under fire after being accused of performing a U-turn over controversial plans to build 200 homes in the shadow of an ancient hillfort.
Councillor Chris Schofield, mayor of Oswestry, said the national body had raised no objection to building the homes at Oldport Farm near the town's Iron Age hillfort – only to then change its mind.
He said town councillors had looked to English Heritage for advice during the early stages of consultation on the scheme, and said the change of view was "not good enough".
Officials at English Heritage, which protects England's ancient monuments, had originally told Oswestry Town Council it would be happy with a scheme to build homes at the site off Gobowen Road.
But now Bill Klemperer English Heritage principal inspector of ancient monuments, has written to Shropshire Council saying the body has come out against the plans. He has claimed the new design based on the farm buildings was far too intensive.
Shropshire Council wants to include three sites close to the hillfort in its Site Allocations and Management of Development (SAMDev) document, a blueprint for future development which will see more than 20,000 home built across the county by 2026.
Councillor Schofield said the town council had based its views on the proposed SAMDev plans for the sites on advice from English Heritage.
He said: "Now it seems English Heritage has done a U-turn on Oldport Farm. It is simply not good enough that such a national body can advise a council and then change its advice."
In his letter to Shropshire Council, Mr Klemperer said English Heritage had said that should Oldport Farm cease to be a farm, it could be redeveloped on its historic courtyard form.
"The scheme promoters have produced further information and reduced the number of units to 23. This is very similar to the number we opposed for the site in 2012 and would, in our view be an over intensitve use of the site that would be to the detriment of the hillfort's significant."
Archaelogists from across Britain have joined hundreds of campaigners in Oswestry and the surrounding area opposing the plans to build the homes. They have described the hillfort as one of the most important of its kind in the country.
More than 6,000 people have signed an online petition against the housing plans, amid fears they will detract from the hillfort and its setting.
The hill, rumoured to be the birthplace of King Arthur's wife, Guinevere, is protected by English Heritage and is one of the most significant of its kind in Europe.
