‘Circular’ bus service vision to connect Oswestry’s surrounding villages

The Future Oswestry Group is currently reviewing bus routes with a view to improving the town’s transport network, and it has now been suggested that the model being worked on for Shrewsbury could be adapted to suit Oswestry’s more rural setting.

Shropshire Council’s ambition for the Shrewsbury service is to see buses from the three park and ride sites converge in a loop of the town centre, where passengers can switch buses to access every stop on the network, with routes being extended to take in the hospital, employment sites, tourist attractions and entertainment venues.

Whittington councillor Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s portfolio holder for assets and economic growth, said the same “circular route” concept could apply to a modern service for Oswestry, connecting surrounding villages with the town and with each other.

The service could take in communities like Park Hall and Whittington as well as Gobowen railway station and the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital.

Councillor Charmley said would solve the problem currently faced by rural bus users whereby they are often forced to travel into Oswestry just to go back out in another direction, for example to get from Whittington to the orthopaedic hospital.

Councillor Charmley, who sits on the Future Oswestry Group alongside town council and Business Improvement District (BID) representatives, said: “We are looking at re-jigging bus services for the town.

“If we look at the way the Shrewsbury park and ride has been configured, so you can come into town and change to go out to the hospital, for example, that sort of method could also work here.

“It will all be around a central route and that’s the sort of design we are looking at for Oswestry – but it’s very early stages yet.

“The bus service hasn’t really changed for the last 25 years. I would like to see it connecting the communities around Oswestry.”

Comparing the town’s road network to “like the M6 going through Oswestry”, Councillor Charmley said a new bus service could form part of a wider strategy to regenerate the former Morrison’s site and bus station.

He said: “There are that many lanes of traffic going through town, there seems to be an awful lot of wasted space there and this is an opportunity to develop something better.

“Do we need the bus station where it is, do we need a bus station at all?

“We want to see the bus connecting communities, not necessarily places.

“There seems to be bus stops here, there and everywhere, and 10 to 15 years ago there was a demand there but demand has changed and we need to identify where buses need to be now.”

Councillor Charmley said a clearer picture of how a new bus service could look would emerge as part of a masterplan for Oswestry which is currently being developed. Urban planning firm Allies and Morrison has been appointed to the project and is due to report back on a proposed movement strategy by the end of the year.

“The next steps will be to decide the direction, decide how to implement it and look at how to fund it,” added Councillor Charmley.

“I think it’s really good news for Oswestry and an exciting time for the town.”