Fears Oswestry homes plan will damage the green belt
Plans to build a housing estate in the greenbelt near Oswestry would damage the local community, protesters have warned.
Outline plans for the development at The Cottams, between the boundaries of Morda and Oswestry, have been drawn up by David Wilson Homes and are due to go before Shropshire Council's north planning committee on Tuesday.
About 100 objections have already been registered to the plans, including those from Oswestry Rural Parish Council.
Earlier this week more than 60 people attended a meeting of the Morda Residents' Group to discuss the proposals.
And at the meeting, which was held on Tuesday by Morda Residents' Group, many people raised objections to the plans.
John Mellor, from Morda Residents' Group, said: "The meeting was a great success, with over 60 resident attendees as well as Oswestry Rural Parish Councillors.
"There was excellent support and input from the local Morda residents and some wider community members."
The site has been earmarked for development as part of the SAMDev preferred options list drawn up by Oswestry Town Council to earmark land to meet the district's future housing needs.
Mr Mellor added: "The residents raised clearly their objections to the development, and made constructive comments in the feedback and review session that followed, reiterating their disappointment that some Oswestry Town Council members were not supportive to their rural community, in particular, not voting to remove The Cottams' planning application from the Shropshire Council SAMDev Plan."
Mr Mellor said residents were especially concerned that, should the development go ahead, it could lead to Morda being merged into Oswestry.
He said: "Should this development be allowed to proceed, it will be the demise of a local community and its natural habitat, with the loss of an idyllic boundary and the rural green belt land between Morda Village and Oswestry."
