£150m plan 'will transform Shropshire'
Further details were today revealed about a £150 million plan to improve the life of people in Shropshire.
A wish list has been drawn up of important projects, which includes the creation of a dual carriageway between Oswestry and Shrewsbury.
Whitchurch's electricity supply could also be upgraded and access improved to Craven Arms Business Park under the plans.
The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership has lodged a bid for £102 million of funding from a new £2 billion Government pot, which it says it can match with £52 million raised locally. The LEP has outlined a number of "shovel-ready" projects which it would fund with the cash, including the estate at Craven Arms and the flagging supply of electricity to Whitchurch, as well as another scheme to begin work on Oswestry Innovation Park.
The document goes on to appeal to the Government for support in bringing forward widening of the A5 north west of Shrewsbury, describing its current provision as "inadequate".
In total, the LEP says the 14 projects listed in the scheme could help create 40,000 jobs and 70,000 homes in Shropshire and Herefordshire over the next17 years. They also include a £12 million link road in north west Shrewsbury which could facilitate the completion of the £100 million north west relief road, a £5.5 million scheme to transform the Dobbies roundabout linking the A5 and the A49, and a big overhaul of Telford's road network.
Backing the plans Telford MP David Wright said: "There's a rich seam of potential to grow our economy, that these projects proposed by the LEP can help to fulfil."
Richard Sheehan, chief executive of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, added: "It's a very exciting time, as Government looks to allow the LEP to look after their own local business communities."
See a special two page report in Thursday's Shropshire Star
