The Hills Ford Stages Rally is set to bring racing cars to locations across Shropshire in September, and the first stretch of the route already disclosed has drawn a sharp warning from one local campaigner. Peter Phillips, of Bishops Castle, called the event inappropriate and said the rally could interfere with farming activity, harm nature and damage roads and verges.
The section revealed so far takes in Shelve, The Bog and Linley Woods, on the flanks of the Stiperstones and within the Shropshire Hills National Landscape. Phillips said the course could cause significant disruption to residents, commercial activities and other road users, and he questioned the consultation carried out by organisers. “The only direct consultation appears to be with premises along the closed sections, where speed trials will take place,” he said. “Anywhere else along the route will know nothing about it.”
The criticism comes as the rally, moved from Herefordshire to Shropshire, moves through the approval process in the county. South Shropshire MP Stuart Anderson said he had spoken to local residents who opposed the rally, and that he had passed those concerns on to organisers and Shropshire Council. He said the organisers are following the legal process and that the proposal is currently being considered by the council under the Road Traffic Act.
Organisers say they have been working with Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury Town Council since August 2025 and have created an event safety plan. They said they have complied with every legal requirement, have contacted more than 250 residents, farms and businesses on the route, and have received five complaints to date, which they are responding to. The full route, they said, will not be published until much nearer the event to reduce the risk of copycat driving.
A spokesperson said safety is the highest priority and that the rally does not use any off-road land or damage the landscape or environment. They said any wear and tear to roads or verges would be made good. The event, they added, is televised and attracts considerable numbers of visitors and tourists, many of whom do not visit Shropshire before and stay longer for holidays.
The organisers estimate the rally will bring in excess of £500,000 to the county, a figure they say underlines why they want it to go ahead. But the row also carries the echo of a similar dispute in Herefordshire, where Cheltenham Motor Club cancelled the 2025 rally in Ledbury in July last year after it failed to secure the necessary motor race order and road closure order from Herefordshire Council. That failure is now part of the backdrop in Shropshire, where the question is no longer whether the rally can be staged at all, but whether the county is prepared to live with the disruption that comes with it.
