Road closure worry for Oswestry proms in the park
Concert goers are waiting to hear how overnight road closures will affect them leaving a major event.
The British Ironwork Centre on the A5 near Oswestry has been planning its Proms in the Park evening, on Saturday, for months.
Now Highways England work on the trunk road outside the tourist attraction has thrown organisers into a spin.
The marquee for the Wrexham Symphony orchestra is up and preparations all made for the spectacular.
But the centre has still not had a reply to urgent letters to Highways England and its contractor asking whether people will be able to access the A5 to leave the event.
Night closures began on the road on Wednesday and are due to continue until July 7 between the Mile End roundabout at Oswestry and the Churncote roundabout near Shrewsbury.
The road will be closed between 8pm and 6am, as part of a pavement resurfacing scheme.
Chairman of the British Ironwork Centre, Clive Knowles, said he had sent two registered letters to seek clarification about whether there will be access to and from the centre on Saturday night.
"They do not realise the stress that this is causing and the uncertainty for both us and those who have bought and are buying tickets," he said.
"The marquees are up and we have ordered pallets of strawberries and mountains of ice cream for the evening."
"The Highways Agency can not just simply shut off roads without a thought for the businesses that are affected by the closures. This is a tourism and cultural event that will bring hundreds of people to the area. It is good for the economy of the Oswestry area and yet, just days before it takes place, we have still not heard what the access arrangements will be."
"Our event was planned many months in advance of the roadworks."
There is also concern about how a later road closure will event tourist for Shropshire and mid Wales.
The A483 between the Mile End roundabout and Llanymynech, will be affected between 9pm and 5am from mid-July through to September for works to be carried out.
Dilys Gaskill, chair of Llanymynech and Pant Parish Council, said: "Roadworks starting in July is probably the worst time of year for this area, it's the main tourist season and I do worry that if visitors do get stuck in traffic, it will put them off coming to this area again, which isn't good.
"I know the bulk of the road closures are during the night time but that still causes problems.
"The weekend closures especially will be a nightmare, particular for tourists and events happening this summer.
"I just hope the closures don't coincide with major events such as the Royal Welsh Show, when the roads are always much busier.
"Those involved in the planning and logistics of roadworks and road closures should also bear in mind what's happening elsewhere, say in Welshpool, and on the A5, where we've seen the works at the Gledrid roundabout causing disruption in the area over recent months."
