Lunchtime Meeting - 12.45pm - Speaker Roy Jones

Our speaker today was Roy Jones, former auctioneer with local firm Bowen, Son & Watson, latterly board member of Oswestry Livestock Auctions.  He came to update members about the development taking place on the Smithfield site.

Back in 1999 Roy went along to a meeting of Oswestry Town Council (Jayne remembers the occasion!) to float the idea of contracting the 32-acre site currently in use for the livestock market to 16 acres and use the rest for an 'out of town development'.  Liberty Mercian were engaged and a planning application was submitted to Oswestry Borough Council in 2008, resulting in permission but with the disbanding of OBC they had to start again with Shrewsbury Council, getting detailed planning permission through in February 2013 and starting work on the 'Smithfield Development' in February 2014.

Much has been done of which the general public is largely ignorant: trees taken down, the site cleared and concreted for the new Smithfield car park. There is now a new building comprising new offices and a sale ring with cattle pennage; a new lorry wash and calf sales building are in place and in February this year there will be a covered sheep section.  A borehole has been sunk (42 metres down!) to provide the water for the wash-down which takes place after every market and a new caf