Shropshire Star

Growth corridor plans for Oswestry aim to bring jobs and homes

Plans to create a growth corridor for Oswestry could bring hundreds of new jobs and homes for the area.

Published

Work is under way to push forward the multi-million pound concept for the swathe of land along Oswestry bypass.

From the Innovation Park at the Mile End Roundabout in the south to Park Hall in the north, the area is being zoned for employment, leisure and housing.

Shropshire Council is working with Oswestry's Business Improvement District and others, including Shropshire's specialist orthopaedic hospital to stimulate development along the corridor.

Oswestry Town Council will debate how it could get involved, in a meeting on Wednesday.

Deputy leader of Shropshire Council who heads economic development, Councillor Steve Charmley, said the aim was to identify opportunities and solutions to accelerate housing and employment land development in Oswestry.

"The two go hand in glove to revitalise an area," he said.

"We need good, well paid jobs for local people and, as new companies move in we need more housing for the workforce. This in turn brings more people to use our town centre shops and facilities."

Innovative

He said local workshops had been held with Oswestry BID and local businesses and said one of those involved of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.

One of the threads of the project was to support the development of innovative healthcare through a proposal for new laboratory facilities with training and commercial opportunities, while the growth corridor could also provide more housing close to the hospital providing accommodation not only for NHS employees but also short term accommodation for those visiting long term patients at the hospital.

It could also look at providing primary, secondary and community care services associated with housing expansion plans for up to 800 new home at the Oswestry Sustainable Urban Extension.

"Funding is needed to support a feasibility study into the Oswestry Growth Corridor. The project will engage with all partners to incorporate local priorities."

Earlier this year the government announced funding to improve both the Mile End and the Whittington Roundabouts on the bypass and to build a new roundabout on the Shrewsbury Road to improve access for the urban extension.