[2] From 1985 and until 2019, Astbury Hall was the home of K. K. Downing,[3] former guitarist with Judas Priest, who had a championship-standard golf course built in the grounds.

Administrators, FRP Advisory, blamed “tougher economic times within the wider corporate hospitality market” which had put "unsustainable pressure on the cashflow of the estate under its current financial structure."

[6] Shropshire Council's planning officers set Downing's estate to be transformed into a huge leisure complex including a leisure and spa building, two swimming pools, a farm shop, a function room, restaurant and spa, an outdoor lido pool, tennis courts, bowling greens, a new nine-hole golf course and an 18-hole putting green; with the addition of 300 wooden lodges.

Local residents expressed concerns about the impact of the development on the nature of Eardington and added traffic on small nearby roads.

The National Trust expressed their own worries of the work on the nearby Dudmaston Hall, but Shropshire Council's planning team decided that there were no grounds on which the development should be refused.