Newly-elected Shropshire Councillor Duncan Kerr, who represents Oswestry South will be attending the Council’s Cabinet meeting on Wednesday the 30^th June to urge them to address the huge inequalities in the presence of funding of cultural facilities across the County.

Cllr Kerr explains “The Cabinet is being asked to approve a new cultural strategy which does not even recognise, let alone address, the deficit of Council-owned cultural facilities in Oswestry. In spite of Oswestry being the second largest town in Shropshire it has none of the six museums owned by SUC and no facility to compare to the Assembly Rooms in Ludlow (which have just received a £3.5M upgrade) or the Old Market Hall and Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury.

I am therefore calling on the Cabinet to postpone approval of this plan whilst in investigates how it can level-up its cultural offerings across the County. With a masterplan for Oswestry currently being developed it is essential that the contribution that cultural assets can make to the economic, social and mental health of the people who live in Oswestry is not only recognised, but properly funded, by Shropshire Council.”