Oswestry Hillfort fight fury at 'double standards'

The Hands Off Old Oswestry Hillfort group said they were "dumbfounded" to hear that Shropshire Council's conservation department and Historic England have objected to development skirting Caer Caradoc hillfort in the south of the county, near Church Stretton, but have signed an outline agreement in Shropshire's SAMDev local development plan for 117 houses across the landscape surrounding Old Oswestry Hillfort, known as OSW004.

Maggie Rowlands, spokeswoman for the group, said: "We are encouraged that strong objections are being made in defence of these wonderful historic assets and rural landscape in Church Stretton. But the same arguments can and should be applied in the case of Old Oswestry given its widely-accepted national if not international significance.

"We were dumbfounded when we saw the objections that were lodged against the development at Caer Caradoc when both organisations gave their approval to the housing in Oswestry, despite fresh acknowledgement from leading academics of its national importance."

Shropshire Council conservation officer, Berwyn Murray, has argued that an application for 85 homes at Caer Caradoc will impact the hillfort and valley as well as a nearby Grade II listed 18th century farmhouse.

John Yates, an inspector for Historic England, has also objected, saying that the hillfort would be "closer to the suburbs, and less rural" if the housing goes ahead.

Mrs Rowlands said The Hands Off Old Oswestry Hillfort members were frustrated by the apparent lack of consistency.

"Historic England's contradictory approach is further highlighted by its objection to the allocation of land in SAMDev to extend an industrial park adjacent to Shrewsbury's historic Battlefield," she said. "The heritage body is concerned about the impact of development on key views to and from the site, and potential harm to the registered battlefield's wider designation.

"This is a directly parallel situation with OSW004 at Old Oswestry. But Shropshire Council is refusing to acknowledge that Old Oswestry's historic farmland setting faces similar degradation from development sweeping ever closer to the monument . . . It appears that OSW004 is being forced on us to fulfil the housing quota in SAMDev at any cost."

Shropshire Council has said that it does not accept that proposed development (OSW004) would result in substantial harm to the significance of the hillfort.

The SAMDev plan has been examined by inspector Claire Sherratt for more than a year. She is expected to submit her final recommendations to Shropshire Council in the next few weeks.