AN OSWESTRY businesswoman who provides community session for health and wellbeing has welcomed a U-turn from Shropshire Council over her lease.

Chloe Yeomans, 29, set up Open Space Studios – a community interest company – above Oswestry library in Arthur Street in 2019 before Covid-19 struck.

Since then, she has run a mix of health and well-being sessions with dance classes, but last week, she attended Oswestry Town Council’s latest meeting, calling for support in convincing Shropshire Council – her landlord – to extend her current lease.

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Chloe has been locked in negotiations for a community asset transfer which has stalled but was told by officers that her rental agreement would change and could have priced her out of a space she says she has spent more than £50,000 on.

But after The Advertizer had contacted the council, officers emailed her to say the lease would be extended.

She said: “I feel like that after all these years of getting through Covid and other things, we can finally get on with extending the lease so that our much-needed services can continue.

“It’s the first bit of support I think we’ve had – we thought this time last week that the business was closing.

“It was out of desperation that I sought support from the town council, just on the hope that they would support us and they have.

“Even if they didn’t have the time to contact Shropshire Council yet, it was great to know that they said they would support me.

“To see all the people on the council vote in support of the studio was really emotional – people there, even the ones you don’t know or recognise, they know the work we’ve been doing.

“It was touching to know that the work we’ve been doing is reaching a large audience and a lot of people.

“I think the pressure of it going out in the public domain that caused the U-turn – if they had the provision to keep the lease as it is, then why not do that in the first place?”

Chloe added that she’s hoping for a positive working relationship with Oswestry Town Council too.

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She added: “Now that we’ve agreed on a better rent, I need to get the lease done but I need to be careful on that.

“But I’m happy that now this working relationship with Oswestry Town Council has started, I’m really hoping that’s going to open the door for more support.”

A spokesman for Shropshire Council confirmed that Chloe had been in negotiations for the lease with officers, but added that ‘it would be inappropriate to comment’.