Residents’ favourite mural design to add colour to Powis Indoor Market was given the thumbs up by Oswestry Town Council at its July meeting.

Design concepts from six artists were put to the public vote in June with residents asked to choose the design style they liked the most. Displays and voting booths were located at Powis Indoor Market and The Guildhall.

The public voted overwhelmingly for design concept 4: A vibrant ‘Welcome to Oswestry Market’ scene with colourful illustrations of the goods on sale in the market and an interactive balloon feature where people can take selfies holding a bunch of balloons.

A total of 377 people voted in person:

  • Design concept 1 received 11 votes
  • Design concept 2 received 68 votes
  • Design concept 3 received 71 votes
  • Design concept 4 received 132 votes
  • Design concept 5 received 17 votes
  • Design concept 6 received 18 votes
  • Invalid votes (multiple answers, no name/postcode) 60

The top three designs voted for by the public went to Full Council with a recommendation from the working group overseeing the project to back the public’s favourite. Full Council agreed unanimously, and the winning design concept 4 has now been commissioned with funding from UK Government.

The Mayor of Oswestry cllr Mike Isherwood said: “On behalf of the council, I would like to thank people for helping us choose the best design. We are very excited to work with the artists and I can’t wait to see it finished.”

Winning artists Sarah Parkinson and Debbie Carr said: “We are hugely honoured and overwhelmed by the support from the community to have been chosen for the market mural. It was a lovely surprise to hear that our design even captured votes from visitors to Oswestry from across the globe!

“We are excited to put a stamp of our combined creation into the heart of Oswestry. We will of course be using many local businesses to support the mural from start to finish – the only challenge now is the weather!”

Weather permitting, the council anticipates the mural will be completed by the end of this summer.

The winning design concept and artists Sarah Parkinson and Debbie Carr.