LAND at the foot of the iconic Old Oswestry hillfort could be used to build a huge housing estate after new plans were submitted to Shropshire Council.

According to a design and access statement, there are hopes from building firm Cameron Homes that 83 new dwellings – built in two phases of 47 and 36 – will be given the green light for the light between Whittington Road and Gobowen Road, near the Iron Age hillfort.

The plans, which are viewed as controversial given the development's proximity to the much-loved tourist attraction, with conservation campaign group Hands off Old Oswestry hillfort (HOOOH) previously opposing previous planning applications.

The new plans are a scaled down version of a similar application for 91 houses with associated access, public open space, electricity sub-station, drainage and landscaping which was rejected in March 2022.

However, a new application was put back to Shropshire Council on January 19.

It said: "The site is located at the settlement edge and therefore forms part of a transitional landscape, set between the urban fringe of Oswestry and the agricultural fields to the north and east of the site.

"The site includes established existing vegetation, including a band of trees near the adjacent disused railway, along the south-western boundary, and along the frontage of Whittington Road.

"A tightly clipped central hedgerow crosses the site in a north-south alignment, which varies somewhat in condition."

It added: "The site is located in relative close proximity to the Old Oswestry Hillfort, with which the site shares partial inter visibility.

"The north-west area of the site is screened by existing vegetation at Oldport Farm. The rest of the site is visible to users of the Hillfort, but only from the more elevated eastern ramparts."

Included in the plans are the changes that have been made across the years of rejections, while it also states that there will be 'an element of affordable housing' with a mixture of two, three and four-bedroom houses, with designs included in the statement.

Meanwhile, HOOOH has slammed the application and says it will continue to oppose it.

A spokesman said: "There appears to be little change from the housing layout and plan that was submitted and refused by Shropshire planners last year.

"There is no escaping the fact that there will be impacts on the eastern and southern landscape of Old Oswestry Hillfort and several non-designated heritage assets.

"Though these impacts may be indirect, they carry more weight for a heritage site of the stature of Old Oswestry.

"The new application does not address the fundamental problem that the development continues to significantly exceed the northern limit for development set by the adjacent factory buildings.

"This point, agreed by Shropshire Council and Historic England in a Statement of Common Ground, was integral to the site being kept in the Local Plan and the Inspector assessing less than substantial harm.

"We note that Shropshire planners have decided the application does not warrant an Environmental Impact Assessment, flying in the face of its own heritage department which has made the case very strongly that one is needed.

"We will continue to lead the significant local and national opposition to all bids to build on Old Oswestry."