Oswestry council to debate Ironwork centre application
The planning application for the British Ironwork Centre site will be discussed by Oswestry Town Council tomorrow.
Shropshire Council says the scale of the development, which is outside the town council boundary, is of such a scale that it wanted to give the council the chance to make representations about the proposals.
The current, retrospective application is for the extension and alterations to existing lawful buildings to include improvements to an existing access and change of use of land to formalise the sculpture park on part of the site.
A previous application, which included future aspirations for the site, off the A5, was withdrawn after two years of talks.
It has been expected that this new application, will be decided by planners this spring.
The centre is looking for planning permission for workshops, an educational room, aviary and falconry display sheds, retail showrooms and cafe and the provision of new toilet facilities within the existing building.
The local highways authority has confirmed it has no objections to the retrospective plans while Highways England has also said that it supports the bid on the basis that certain moves are taken to manage major events.
Access
As part of the planning application, the centre has already outlined proposals to manage traffic on busy event days.
It has put forward plans for changes to the access off the A5 trunk road, with the creation of a visibility splay.
As part of its traffic management scheme for major events, the centre says it operates a one-way system for traffic and car parking on its land and has a designated traffic controller among its staff.
A report to Shropshire Council said the centre operates a ticket-based system for all events which have the potential to be well attended.
The British Ironwork Centre is best known for being the home of the Knife Angel sculpture that is currently touring cathedrals and civic sites across the UK. The sculpture was created by artist Alfie Bradley as part of the centre's Save a Life, Surrender your Knife campaign.
It is also the home of the spoon gorilla, built for Uri Geller, the Israeli illusionist, magician, television personality, and self-proclaimed psychic.
