At last: Morrisons set to build new Oswestry store on Smithfield site
Three years after original plans collapsed, a brand new Morrisons supermarket is finally set to be built on a piece of derelict land in Oswestry.
The Smithfield site, on Shrewsbury Road, has sat untouched since 2015, after plans for a Morrisons store and leisure complex fell through.
Now after numerous calls for action to be taken on the land, which was acquired on a £4 million lease, bosses at Morrisons have finally drawn up plans for a new development.
In a letter to Oswestry Town Councillors, the supermarket has stated that the development will include a new store, which will incorporate a garden centre inside a glazed entrance.
Also included in the plans are a new barista cafe, a hand car wash, a tyre changing unit and electric car charging points.
The development will create around 60 new full and part time jobs, on top of the 100 staff already employed in the Station Road store in the town.
If permission is granted for the new supermarket, staff from the current town centre store would move to the new site on Shrewsbury Road.
Leaflets are now set to be sent to over 2,000 homes in the coming days informing local residents of the new plans, and asking them for their views before a planning application is submitted to Shropshire Council.
Town clerk David Preston insisted the council wants to see the land developed as soon as possible, and a meeting between supermarket bosses and councillors will take place in the next few weeks.
He said: "The town council is aware of information coming from Morrisons regarding the future plans for the site.
"The town council want to see the site improved and brought back into use as soon as possible.
"We have confirmation that a meeting will take place with Morrisons in the next few weeks, and we look forward to being updated on the plans and the time scale."
The first phase of the Smithfield project saw the livestock market moved to a neighbouring site in 2015, with the second phase of the project being a £45 million leisure complex.
The plans included a McDonald's, a Frankie and Benny's restaurant and a cinema, however when Cineworld pulled out, the plans collapsed and the land has laid untouched every since.
Just last month Oswestry town councillor Paul Milner, who has pushed for something to be done with the site, called for supermarket bosses to "get their act together".
