Shropshire Star

Oswestry gridlock fears over 600 homes plan

Part of Oswestry could become gridlocked if plans for up to 600 new homes go ahead, residents fear.

Published
Middleton Road, Oswestry. Photo: Google StreetView.

The Oswestry Sustainable Urban Extension had good news recently as the government announced a grant of £9.3 million to help unlock the land.

The funding will be used to improve roundabouts on the Oswestry bypass and build a new traffic island on the Shrewsbury road leading into the parcel of land.

However, people living in eastern Oswestry say that will not help the residential roads close to the new homes deal with the traffic.

Susan Steward lives just off Middleton Road which, she says, will become one of the main route into the town centre from the new houses.

She is also worried that Aston Way will be used along with Cabin Lane to travel north.

"Theses are narrow local roads and, if Highways England was concerned about the flow onto the A5, how much worse is it going to be for local residents."

She said a paticular pinch point was were Middleton Road met Cabin Lane.

"Middleton Road only has pavement on one side for a lot of its length and it is vary narrow where it nears Cabin Lane," she says.

'Too crowded and too narrow'

"Cars emerging from the junction will be a danger to local people who walk to shop at the Co-op there."

"In addition there is no access from Cabin Lane into Middleton Road at that point, meaning that the assumed 950 cars suggested in the documents, would use the next access point down Prince Charles Road when coming from that side of the town.

"That road is already too crowded and too narrow for the amount of traffic that uses it."

Two planning applications for the sustainable urban extension have been lodged. Shropshire Council says they will be dealt with by planners in the future.

One application, lodged last year, brought a warning from Oswestry Rural Parish Council that the proposed site layout had the potential to become a rat run.

Another resident, Mr Peter Avery, wrote to the planning authority saying Middleton Road was single track in places while Aston Way, was on a completed housing estate used by pedestrians, school children, dog walkers and many other people.

"Buses cannot pass each other without going on the pavement in Aston Way and there are cars parked there day and night," he said.

Oswestry Civic Society has called for better public transport links to the new homes.