A NEW housing estate has been officially opened in Oswestry.

The estate which replaced Swan Lane has been named Hignett Place, in memory of Mary Hignett, a much-loved local writer, teacher and naturalist who left half of her substantial estate to Oswestry Rotary Club.

Shropshire Town and Rural Housing arranged a grand opening of the estate last Wednesday and the chair of the Mary Hignett Bequest Fund, David Gordon, cut the ribbon to declare it officially open.

Jason O’Donoghue, development manager for STAR Housing, said: “The Hignett Place new build site was our largest project and we couldn’t be happier with the final result.

“A lot of hard work has gone into completing this site and it looks fantastic. I’d like to thank our building contractor Speller Metcalfe and everyone involved for their great work.”

Hignett Place replaces the demolished Swan Lane and is a key element of re-developing the once troubled estate.

Chris Shepherd, STAR housing neighbourhoods manager said: “The scale of the transformation from the old Swan Lane to the new Hignett Place estate is scarcely believable. We’re all excited to officially unveil Hignett Place as a new community that our tenants, new homeowners and partners can be proud of.”

Hignett Place consists of 19 new affordable homes including 15 three-bed and four two-bed homes, one of which will be a bungalow that is specially designed in conjunction with Transhouse.

If you would like to learn more about STAR Housing and their new build program, contact STAR on 01691 654989.