Oswestry cycle path 'could scupper rail plans'

Rail enthusiasts are claiming that a proposal to build a cycle path to link one of Oswestry's proposed supermarkets to the town centre would jeopardise their plans for a tourist railway.

Volunteers at Cambrian Heritage Railways have been working for years to bring a train service back to Oswestry. They are hoping to restore a regular service from Gobowen to Oswestry and then on to Blodwel.

But they said today the plan could hit the buffers because of one of Oswestry's supermarket applications.

Timber firm Richard Burbidge Ltd wants to relocate from its Whittington Road site and create a supermarket, cinema and petrol station. Part of the scheme would involve the building of a cycleway to link the store to the town centre.

But Henry Thomas, from Cambrian Heritage Railways, said members feared the cycleway bid could impinge on their railway plans.

He said there was not enough room to accommodate the cycle path as well as the tracks needed for the new railway.

He said: "We are concerned about how these plans will affect what we are doing."

He added: "We are not against a cycleway and, in fact, many railway lines have one running alongside.

"We are just concerned that the suggested cycle route will pose problems."

In response, Burbidge's planning consultant Peter Vernon said the firm had been assured by Shropshire's Council that the cycleway and the railway group's plans were "physically deliverable" at the site and there would be no conflict between the two plans.