Bus improvements a better deal for Oswestry than park and ride, says councillor
A town is getting a better deal after developers agreed to pay £1.3 million to improve local bus services rather than manage a Park & Ride scheme, it has been claimed.
Councillor John Cadwallader said spending the money on buses in Oswestry would benefit the whole town.
He made the claim at a meeting of Shropshire Council's north planning committee as members agreed to accept a payment from developers who wished to avoid having to run a Park & Ride service from a new shopping and cinema complex on Shrewsbury Road.
Planning permission was granted for the development four years ago on the condition that a Park & Ride service linked to the town centre was provided, but councillors accepted a variation of terms at Tuesday's meeting).
Councillor Cadwallader, Shropshire councillor for Market Drayton East, said: "Improving and extending the existing bus service has to be far better than simply having shuttle buses going back and too from the town centre to the development. This will benefit the whole of the town."
Councillor Arthur Walpole, committee chairman, said: "We will lose 40 car parking spaces. However the funding will come back to use to use for the bus services for the area."
