Oswestry Town Council

Welcome to the 2023 Oswestry Town Council review. 2022/2023 has been a historic year and we have overcome many challenges to successfully deliver our objectives.

Message from the outgoing Mayor Cllr Jay Moore

This Civic Year has been truly historic. Not only have we all been fighting our way back to some semblance of normality following the pandemic, but it has been a monumental year for our country. The civic year began with the celebrations of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. I represented our town during Operation London Bridge following the passing of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and my final duty as Mayor was to preside over the celebrations of the Coronation of King Charles III.

I think I’ve always had a different view as to what a Mayor should be. Our role is not to stand in the spotlight, but to hold it and shine the light on those around us. My mayoral year couldn’t be mine at all, it needed to belong to the community, and I really tried my best to make sure they had it.

I introduced a new Community Champions‘ program to recognise some of Oswestry’s brightest stars:- the late great Geoff Moore; Gary and Kelly Clarke; Mr Lenny Worthing; and the Connect For Life team.

Finally, I need to thank my family, Poppy, and Alfie. Poppy has taken on an incredible amount to allow me to be the Mayor this year. If you feel like my time as Mayor has been a success, it is Poppy who deserves the credit. Many people have been kind to me during the year and made me and my family feel very welcome. I’m so proud to have been your Mayor and I thank you all for your support.

Annual Report

Oswestry is one of over 8,500 town and parish councils in England and Wales. There are 230 in Shropshire including Telford and Wrekin, all with the same legal powers available to them as Oswestry Town Council. We can only do what legislation requires or permits us to do and whilst this can be frustrating for councillors, confusing for the public and challenging for council staff, we can still achieve many things for and with our community. It means we must find different ways of delivering initiatives and work with partners, influence other bodies and help valuable community organisations and individuals through grants and donations.

Everyone will have a different view of what a successful Town Council looks like. Here in Oswestry, we are proud to have delivered a number of important projects during 2022/23.

Town Centre

The High Street Heritage Action Zone Project (HSHAZ) has seen a number of shop fronts improved in the town. Cross Street in particular has seen a great transformation. The new Designs In Mind shop front has made a big difference and the former Burtons building (the Little Mall) will soon emerge from behind the scaffolding. This project has been supported by Oswestry Town Council using the Smithfield Windfall Capital Receipt and delivered in partnership with Shropshire Council, Oswestry BID and Historic England.

HSHAZ has seen buildings repurposed, alleyways made more attractive and user friendly and there is more to come. The HSHAZ scheme has developed a new festival, ‘Love Oswestry’ - a celebration of Oswestry arts, culture and heritage and will help with the Town Council’s purchase and conservation of Llwyd Mansion later this year. There is no doubt that there are challenges on the high street for both traders and residents, however there is a lot to be optimistic about. Resolving Church Street will make a significant difference and we are encouraging Shropshire Council to remove some of the barriers. Plans for Festival Square have been drawn up and we are hoping to extend and build on the shop front scheme through to 2025.

We have highlighted the HSHAZ program because we are proud of it, however the Council delivers many projects across our town. We host a wide range of free family events, provide free Saturday bus travel, accessible parking, support tourism promotion, provide Christmas lights, hanging baskets and floral planters, run a vibrant indoor and outdoor market, support Oswestry Town Museum and safeguard historic buildings and assets.

Youth services and facilities

Supporting our young people is a priority for the Council and you might be aware that we fund the youth club held at the Centre and fund a mental health and wellbeing service (Heads Up) at the Marches. We also provide free holiday activities and work experience opportunities, run a youth forum and have supported the development of a targeted intervention programme – helping to change the narrative for ten young men. We are currently working on trying to bring the Centre on Oak Street back to use as a community building.

Other Core Services

We can only provide a summary of our work in this report, however for a small council we deliver a wide range of services including the cemetery, Cae Glas and Brogyntyn parks, street lighting, free loft insulation, tree planting, speed reduction signs, Oswestry Rickshaw, the renovation of the Cross Market Building, the completion of the ramp to improve accessibility from Castle Street, improvements to the central carpark exit, support for those fleeing the war in the Ukraine and a new bus stop in Church Street, which has a green roof.

Climate Change

Tackling climate change and mitigating against the impact of climate change is a priority for Oswestry Town Council and this year we have extended free bus travel on all town centre routes in the town on a Saturday. In addition, and in part to address fuel poverty, the town council is funding free loft insulation for Band A and B council tax properties.

Tree planting is a priority and the town council has, with a lot of help, planted 6,000 trees and hedgerow plants this year. This has been thoroughly enjoyable work and has only been possible with the support of wonderful volunteers, schools and community groups.

The Council is continually looking to reduce its carbon footprint by investing in LED street lighting and by running an electric vehicle. This summer, a rapid EV charger will be installed on the Horsemarket Car Park in addition to those already installed at the Central Car Park.

Events

Events always prove to be a huge success in Oswestry and not many places can boast the range of free events and activities that the town provides. Cae Glas Park hosts a full programme of community events during the summer months including the Community Games, Family Fun Day and Bulgarian Music and Dance. One of our largest events is Oswestry’s Food & Drink Festival, which takes to the streets for two days in July with food and drink stalls from all over Shropshire and North Wales. Other events include the Youth Music Festival, Heritage Open Days in September, TNS in the Park and Panto in the Park with the Attfield Theatre.

Despite the difficult flying conditions, the Balloon Carnival was a hit, with the popular Saturday Nightglow a success. Christmas Music Live kicks off a full festive programme of fun with the amazing Parade (organised by the Rotary Club) on the Saturday and the Santa Run on the Sunday.

Oswestry Town Council Boundary

Great British Market Awards 2023

Oswestry Market Traders continued their award-winning streak by gaining a Great British Market Awards 2023 Highly Commended Certificate. The awards, led by the National Association of British Markets, are an opportunity to champion and celebrate markets in Great Britain. Our markets are a visitor attraction and an important social and cultural aspect of our community.

Grant Funding

The Council provides funding to local organisations both directly and through its grant funding programme. This year, the Town Council has helped the Community First Responders to get a second car on the road and provided bleed kits in all of the de-fib boxes across the town. Other grants were awarded to U&I Counselling, Oswestry Sports Forum, the Community Games, Parkinsons in the Marches, Pebbles People, Friends of Parkies & Open Space Studios. This funding will continue in 2023/24 and the Council has agreed to provide considerable support to OsNosh and to the Foodbank.

Cctv

The town’s CCTV, supported by volunteers, is run and funded by Oswestry Town Council in partnership with Oswestry BID and Selattyn and Gobowen Parish Council. It is an awardwinning initiative and one that attracts a lot of envy from around the county. The CCTV system is very much appreciated by the police and is predominately used as a reactive tool. In 2022, we carried out 164 reviews of evidence of which 74 resulted in us providing evidence for court prosecutions. Additionally, the cameras installed on the Industrial Estate have been particularly successful at detecting criminal activity.

Community Leadership

With regards to our Community Leadership, we called a public meeting with the Police and Crime Commissioner, local Superintendent and our local MP to provide businesses and residents a platform to voice their concerns. This had tangible results and changed the way the police work on a number of local priorities. We also held a public meeting with Shropshire Council’s highways team, devoted our annual town meeting to the issue of social isolation and continue to be involved in local planning applications.

Looking forward

Parish Councils are the first level of government and it could be argued that we are the most important as we are closest to the people we serve.

As we look forward to 2023/24, there are some exciting projects in progress. There will be the provision of a new Changing Places facility in the town, we will be making improvements in Cae Glas Park as we host more events, Oswestry is competing in the final of Britain in Bloom and so much more. The financial challenges are also apparent, the increase in energy costs affects us all and our cost increases cannot be met by increases in Council Tax.