Parish councils from around Oswestry have said they would be willing to engage in conversation to help the town council meet its 'aspirational' target of planting 17,000 trees in three years.

The call for the trees was made by Green councillor Olly Rose at last week's amenities meeting, with many in the room supporting the motion, though more than one councillor queried whether the amount was realistic.

It was agreed to make the targeted number an 'aspiration' and it was agreed to approach other councils in the surrounding area about whether they would support the tree planting.

Paul Milner, who sits on both Oswestry Town Council and Rural Council, praised the thinking behind the number, but hopes a number of councils support the plans.

He said: "I'm part of Oswestry Rural and it would welcome the chance to plant trees as it's a great idea.

"But we have got to work together as parish councils and town councils as we don't have the room.

"We have to work together with the likes of Ellesmere and Gobowen etc to make it achievable because I think it would be.

"They have the experience, the contacts and the land so hopefully we can their help."

Jill Whitby, from Whittington Parish Council, agreed that a conversation would be helpful.

She added: "I think we would be interested in having a conversation.

"It's an environmental thing that we can work with others on. How far down the line we can get on that, I don't know.

"But we would be interested. Planting the trees could help keep Whittington the rural setting that it is."

Helen Williams, vice-chairman of St Martins Parish Council, added: “It probably would be something we would consider, as long as there were not any specific requirements that trees had to be within certain distances from houses or to the Ifton Colliery.

“We have lots of meadowland here which would possibly be suitable for planting.

“We’ve had to take a large chestnut tree down recently as it was getting dangerous, but we replaced that with a smaller tree.

“We’re very much about looking towards the future and urging people to think consciously of what the future may look like.

“So yes, it’s possible we would take it into consideration.”

Cllr Rose said: "I’m very pleased our council is taking the step to get a good start on tree planting to work towards our commitment to tackle climate change.

"The council has got under way with a number of measures already, for example we are near to finalising plans for EV car charging points and have recently moved to a green energy tariff, but trees take a long time to grow to reach their potential of removing CO2 from the environment as well as other pollutants, providing shelter to help keep us cool as temperatures rise and hosting many diverse kinds of insects, so they are great for biodiversity too.

"We now need to work with other councils as well as members of the community and business sector to create a planting plan as soon as we can."

Wednesday's meeting was also attended by Extinction Rebellion, who praised the council's commitment.