British Ironwork Centre permission granted as call-in to government is cancelled

Shropshire Council granted permission for the parts of the tourist attraction off the A5 south of Oswestry built without approval at its meeting yesterday .

At the time that was still subject to ratification by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, following a call by a member of the public for a planning inspector to have the final say.

Now it has been revealed that the individual has withdrawn the application.

In a statement issued on behalf of the secretary of state, John Blakeway, planning casework officer at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said: "Your request is considered withdrawn and accordingly the Secretary of State has no further interest in this case."

The same member of the public, who does not wish to be named, withdrew the request after attending the North Planning Committee meeting.

Highway Issue

The member of the public said: “Having attended the planning meeting when the application was considered by the North Planning Committee, and through speaking at length with the applicant afterwards, I feel that the committee came to the right decision in resolving to grant retrospective planning permission.

“I was reassured by certain members declaring an interest and leaving the room, and by all the remaining members raising concerns regarding the highway issue, as well as the manner in which the applicant had gone about developing his scheme.

“After listening to the committee discussion, I feel that any harm caused by the application is outweighed by the positive benefits, and this was the unanimous decision of the committee.

“I also recognise that few applications are called in each year, and that it might take a few weeks to come to a decision to not call the application in, so in light of the above, I think it would be unfair of me to allow the indecision over issuing the planning consent to continue and cause further distress and uncertainty to the applicant.

“I am also mindful that the sooner the decision is issued, the sooner the highway improvements can be implemented, which has always been my main concern.”

Council planners had recommended granted retrospective planning permission for the tourist attraction.

Scores of people packed the north planning meeting to hear the application for an extension and alterations to existing lawful buildings to include improvements to an existing access and change of use of land to formalise the sculpture park on part of the site.

Safety concerns about the entrance to the site from the A5 had led to talks with Highways England which had resulted in conditions imposed on the permission that included the construction of a middle lane for safe right turning into the site.

Local resident Ruth Cragg objected saying the centre was quite different from original permission granted in 2009 and said the character of the area had been impacted.

She argued it brought no economic benefit, build up of traffic caused pollution in the area and the site should be shut down until changes have been made.

Additional content from Local Democracy Reporter Andrew Morris