Fourth attempt to build homes on former Oswestry stone merchant fails - as plot remains vacant after 15 years

Attempts to build houses on the former home of Monumental Masons stone merchants on Salop Road in Oswestry have been ongoing since 2010.

Most of the site buildings were removed when the business relocated to another site in the town, although several structures are still in place to the site’s boundary with Stewart Road. 

The original plan, to build two semi-detached and one flat on the site, came to a screeching halt after the next-door pub launched a successful legal challenge over a right-to-light issue. 

A subsequent plan to build three terrace homes on the site - set further back from the pub - was submitted and eventually approved in 2020. 

By that point, the vacant plot of land had been dubbed "a blight on the conservation area" by council planning officers, having been fenced off for a number of years.

A third planning application to build four homes on site was submitted two years later but was rejected for being a "overdevelopment" of the site.

Today, almost five years since a plan was last approved, the land remains vacant and the planning permission has now expired. 

The latest application for a terrace of three, two-bedroom homes, submitted by a Mr C Payne, claimed the new proposal was "almost identical" to the 2020 scheme.

The scheme has no dedicated parking, but the application states that because the development is in the town centre there are "alternative opportunities for future residents to utilise local public car parks" and close enough to local amenities and employment opportunities "to enable more readily available opportunities for sustainable travel".

But during the consultation period, Oswestry Town Council raised an objection about the lack of parking, stating the adjoining road - Stewart Road - was "already full" and had "no capacity for additional cars".

Objecting to the proposals, a spokesperson for the town council said there were "too many houses for such a small parcel of land" and raised concerns about the front doors opening directly onto the pavements. 

"There are concerns for the safety of both residents and members of the public," they added.

Now, Shropshire Council planning officers have rejected the proposals. 

The decision notice stated: "The proposal would represent the overdevelopment of the site with the scale, density, pattern as well as design and appearance of the development not relating well or providing any enhancement to the context and character of the application site, surrounding locality and conservation area."

They also determined that insufficient information had been submitted in relation to noise impacts which may arise as a result of the sites proximity to the adjacent pub and busy road. 

"It has not therefore been demonstrated that the proposal can be accommodated on this site, without detriment to the residential amenities of proposed occupiers of the dwellings," the report concludes.

The full application can be viewed online using Shropshire Council's planning portal and reference number:  24/04670/FUL