Latest news with #OswestryTownCouncil
Leader Live
05-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Two-day Oswestry Balloon Carnival to return this month
Organised in partnership with Nightingale House Hospice, Oswestry Town Council, and Oswestry BID, the carnival will take place on Saturday, August 16, and Sunday, August 17, at Cae Glas Park. The event is free to attend and promises a vibrant weekend of entertainment for all ages, with visitors encouraged to make a voluntary donation of £2 on entry to support Nightingale House Hospice. Elise Jackson, events and campaigns manager at Nightingale House Hospice, said: "The Oswestry Balloon Carnival is a highlight in our calendar. "Not only does it bring people together, but it also raises crucial funds that enable us to continue our work across Wrexham, Flintshire, East Denbighshire, Barmouth and the border towns including Oswestry and Whitchurch. "We're incredibly grateful for everyone's support." In 2024, the carnival raised £37,000 for the hospice. Hot air balloons will be the main attraction once again, with early morning and evening launches planned throughout the weekend, weather permitting. The Saturday Night Glow will light up the park with a display of tethered balloons glowing in time to music. Entertainment will run from morning until evening on both days. Highlights include Tom Longton's Sheepdog Display, the Ferret World Roadshow and Ferret Fun Races. Visitors can also enjoy alpaca walkabouts and meet some friendly animals. On Saturday, Harley the Clown will entertain with balloon modelling, circus workshops and family-friendly fun. Sunday's programme features the Dinky Street pop-up play town, complete with themed zones like a veterinary clinic and campsite. Short Scruffs Theatre Co. will present their puppet show The Jump in the main arena, followed by circus skills sessions. Walkabout characters, live music and community performances will add to the atmosphere. Read more The weekend will wrap up with a drumming finale by Karamba Samba on Sunday afternoon. Organisers hope to match or exceed last year's fundraising total to continue supporting hospice services across the region. Full event details are available at
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Grants to bring empty Oswestry town centre shops back into use
Businesses looking to set up in premises vacant for more than six months could get a grant of up to £5, money could be used to refurbish and fit out sites, as well as for signage and improving accessibility, said Oswestry Town Council, which added 11% of the town centre's shops were classed as is accepting applications until the end of next month from businesses and Oswestry had fewer empty retail premises than most towns, the council would like to see vacant shops relet, it said. Empty retail units and the condition of retail properties "are seen as important indicators of the health of a high street and are a problem nationally", the authority amount of money available for the scheme overall is £25,000 and there will be a second bidding round in the autumn for any funding not allocated in the summer grants of up to £5,000 have been made available thanks to the council's Breathing New Life into Empty Properties initiative and money must be spent by the end of March next mayor of Oswestry, Rosie Radford, said: "We're keen to continue to support businesses and start-ups at a very local level." Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
20-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Oswestry's 15th Century mansion to house holiday lets and shops
A 15th Century merchant's house is set to be transformed into a tourism centre, shops, and small holiday Mansion, which is Grade I-listed, was bought by Oswestry Town Council in 2023, after it had fallen into authority was given nearly half-a-million pounds in grant money to carry out urgent structural repairs. It is now due to apply for a full grant of nearly £3m, under the Framing the Future Project."We think that it was built as a substantial merchant house, and we think that it might be linked possibly to the wool trade - because we know Oswestry was a real hub of the wool trade in the medieval period," said project manager Samantha Jones. It is hoped the work will remove it from the UK's Heritage at Risk project will see community and commercial spaces created on the lower floors, with holiday accommodation on the upper the holiday lets, Ms Jones said: "We know that we're not going to make money off Lwydd Mansion, but what we need to do is earn a little bit of a return to cover the costs of maintaining the building, going forward." Oswestry town clerk Arren Roberts, said safety was a priority that was considered."One of the things we need to make sure is about fire safety - it's a timber frame building," he explained."One of the options that we're looking at is to have accommodation on the top floor so we need to make sure people are safe in the building." 'Maintain it for the future' The team also plans to relocate the tourist information centre into the building. "We're going to work with local artisans... to create some really high quality bespoke items that we can sell that have Llwyd Mansion as the inspiration," said Ms Jones."We've got a conservation architect team on board and they'll be helping to advise us on what we do to restore the building."It's really important not to just to do the restoration project but that we maintain it for the future." Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
09-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Shropshire church asks for support with £200k repair bill
A church that is facing a £200,000 repair bill has asked a town council for John the Baptist Church in Whittington, Shropshire, needs work doing on its masonry, gutters and parquet secretary Margery Mellor said "areas of concern" had been highlighted in a recent inspection and she has asked Oswestry Town Council for said the diocese had also been asked for support, but the likely cost was "vastly beyond our ability to fund". The external masonry in need of repair was over the chancel arch and altar and was causing internal damaging dampness to the walls, Ms Mellor also told the council: "All have Grade II listed status, with the inevitable strictures which it places on remedying the problems."In her letter, she said: "Our church is not only a place of worship, but is an active resource for the village as well as a building with its own intrinsic historic and architectural value, and as such does generate tourists to come in and look around."At the same time, she said she appreciated "that funds are tight" and that the council could also help by endorsing grant applications. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
