Fifty new homes to pay for restoration of Shropshire mansion

The homes will be built within the 93-acre grounds of Brogyntyn, once the ancestral home of the Harlech family and visited by John F Kennedy and wife Jackie before his assassination.

Buildings at Home Farm on the parkland will be turned into 11 homes and the Grade II* listed Brogyntyn Hall, near Oswestry, will be restored to a family home.

One wing of the building would be demolished.

The plans for Brogyntyn, which has lain unused for decades and is on English Heritage's at-risk register, were approved by members of Shropshire Council's north planning committee yesterday.

Councillors said it was imperative that the restoration and the new development ran in tandem.

Objectors said that the proposals would see the loss of a third of the hall, would create a new village inside the parkland and would cause traffic problems on the B4580.

But a report from planning officer Karen Townsend said the new homes were necessary to fund the restoration of Brogyntyn Hall.

Remarking on the 50 new homes she said: "The proposed site is the least harmful, the layout, scale and design of the dwellings is considered to be of a high quality and will result in a sensitive, low-density development creating the appearance of a new small hamlet."

She said that the need for the restoration and repair of Brogyntyn Hall needed to be factored into the balance.

Councillors agreed that the scheme was the best way to restore the hall and return it to a family home.

Councillor Martin Bennett, who represents Oswestry East, said: "This seems the way of doing the minimal amount of damage to allow the restoration of the hall."

Councillor Joyce Barrow, member for St Oswald, added that said she hoped that the developers would work quickly to ensure that no more damage was done to the hall, particularly as the roof was open to the elements.

Meanwhile, councillors also approved plans to build more than 400 homes on two separate sites in Market Drayton, despite almost 500 objections. Up to 250 homes will be built on land off Greenfields Lane and a further 162 will go either side of Rush Lane.

Plans to extend the home of The New Saints FC at Park Hall, near Oswestry, were also approved.

Members also agreed to scrap the Park & Ride at Oswestry's new shopping and cinema development on Shrewsbury Road in return for a £1.3 million payment from developers to improve existing bus services.