'Poorly designed shop fronts are creating problems in our market towns': Views sought on design guide for Oswestry shops

Shropshire Council has launched an eight-week public consultation on a draft Shop Front Design Guide for Oswestry.

The authority said the draft design guide is aimed at current and future shop owners, together with their architects and agents, but will also support decision-making through the planning system. 

The Design Guide has been produced in collaboration with the Oswestry and District Civic Society by the Future Oswestry Group partnership between Shropshire Council, Oswestry Town Council and the Oswestry BID, and as part of the successful Oswestry High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) scheme with Historic England.

A consultation into the guide to gain the views of businesses and the wider community is running until January 24. The council will then finalise the guidance in response to comments raised and look to formally adopt the design guide in February 2025.

Currently, the draft guide suggests shop owners work with traditional materials and take inspiration from the style, and design of the building as a whole.

The guide's development follows a £2.1m package of improvements within Oswestry town centre that finished earlier this year and included 16 enhanced and reinstated shop fronts.

Chris Schofield, cabinet member for planning and regulatory services, said: “We are really looking forward to hearing people’s views on our Draft Shop Front Design Guide.  

"The Oswestry HSHAZ project has made a huge difference to Oswestry Town Centre, helping to ensure it remains vibrant despite the difficulties we have experienced with Covid and the cost of living crisis.

“The Design Guide will provide planning guidance that will help us to continue this legacy. More widely, poorly designed shop fronts are creating problems in our market towns across the county. 

"We see this document as a template that we could use to work with town councils and the business community and adapt for other town centres.”

The consultation can be found on the Shropshire Council website.