Campaigners and planners to meet over future of Oswestry Hillfort

It comes as the authority revealed it decided not to adopt any of the seven sites near Oswestry Hillfort put forward for development in the new Local Plan.

Hands Off Old Oswestry Hillfort (HOOOH), a group that has run a passionate campaign to save the monument and surrounding area from housing, said the news has been received "enthusiastically" by supporters.

A group spokeswoman said: “HOOOH and our many supporters nationwide have welcomed Shropshire Council’s recent assurances over the short-term future of Old Oswestry Hillfort’s setting.

“Seven sites were assessed as having long-term residential potential as part of Shropshire’s current local plan partial review.

"Following a Shropshire Council briefing last week it has been reported that there will be no housing development on these sites within the hillfort’s landscape over the next 17 years.

“News confirming that Shropshire planners have no desire to adopt the sites under the local plan, which runs until 2036, has been widely shared and enthusiastically received on social media."

'Immediate risk'

Key members of the group will now meet with council planners to discuss the hillfort going forward.

A spokeswoman added: “Following an invitation from the council, HOOOH now looks forward to meeting with its representatives for a discussion about the hillfort and Shropshire’s planning approach to heritage.

“We would remind people that the hillfort’s south-eastern setting still remains at immediate risk from a planning application for 120 houses on land which was allocated for housing in Shropshire’s local plan in 2015.”

The proposal is for land off Whittington Road and would be visible from the hillfort.

A formal planning application is expected to be submitted in the coming months.