'It can come down to fixing potholes or giving a child a safe place to live' - Deputy on council's 'difficult decisions'

Councillor Nellins remains optimistic for the future and stated that the council's "head is above water", but admitted that services including pothole repairs and other highway improvements will see a knock-on effect with some issues having to wait. 

In an exclusive interview with the Shropshire Star, the Conservative councillor pointed to challenges that rural counties such as Shropshire have faced. The local authority has moved out of its Shirehall base in efforts to save cash, as well as introducing garden waste subscription and recycling centre booking schemes. 

Mr Nellins said: "Shropshire Council, like a lot of local authorities, has been very honest about its financial position. It is important that everybody takes a bit of responsibility towards that.

"Over 80 per cent of the budget is spent on social care, it is what it is. For every five pounds Shropshire Council spends, four of it goes on social care, 50p of it goes in your waste contract, and that leaves 50 pence for everything else, your highways, street lights, leisure centres, and street lights.

"You can see how it becomes difficult. If somebody says we need a pothole fixed, it comes down to getting that fixed or giving a child somewhere to live that is safe. The visible thing is the likes of the potholes getting fixed, the invisible things are the important things that benefit some vulnerable people.

"The council has had to make a lot of difficult decisions in order to keep its head above water. With the issues we have had and the actions we have taken, some are unpopular, like with the charging for green waste, but it was something we had to do.

"They are difficult decisions we have to make, we have had to give voluntary redundancy and there will be compulsory ones which are unfortunate.

"But, moving out of Shirehall has saved a lot. The heating bill was £300,000 a year compared to £30,000 that we are going to pay in the Guildhall. Equally, it is too big, and half of it isn’t used.

"Our head is still above water. Even with the challenging time that we have had during the last three to four years since the [Covid] pandemic, our head is above water and we are moving forward."

Shropshire Council's deputy leader also spoke about the demolition of the Riverside Shopping Centre in Shrewsbury, as part of regeneration plans for the county town.

Mr Nellins is hoping that the moves will bring more people to Shrewsbury and that in future residents will look back and think they were "lucky" to have it done.

The senior councillor also admitted that the North West Relief Road has been a "stumbling block" but said the project will stand the test of time.

He believes that the road would "make a big impact on the likes of people from Market Drayton because it means we can get around Shrewsbury easier, to the hospital quicker".

"We will find out this week what the [financial] settlement will be from the government," added Mr Nellins. "We can put council tax up by five per cent but the council only gets three per cent. All councils will have to use that.

"Rural counties and local authorities don’t do as well because they are not seen to be as deprived. We know that per resident, Telford gets more money per resident than Shropshire does.

"With Shropshire it is large, but there are people living all over that area. We haven’t got areas of nothing. People need care, to get to school, to have their bins emptied. You wouldn’t send anyone from Leeds to Manchester to empty a bin, but we effectively do that distance-wise. We have different challenges."

Mr Nellins also said that the controversial garden waste subscription scheme was better received than anticipated, and thanked Shropshire residents for co-operation with the new household waste recycling centre booking scheme.

"A lot of people might whinge that they had to go online, but don’t underestimate how helpful that has been. That minute you have spent going online to book a slot is part of the bigger picture.

"With the booking of the recycling centres, we save hundreds of pounds because it costs to process waste. That is a household recycling centre and we know that there are lots of people who have been in the past, and small businesses dumping their rubbish.

"Shropshire residents have been paying for the process of commercial waste, and also for stuff out of the county. All five of our household waste recycling centres are on the border of the county and we have been turning people away from Wales, Cheshire and Staffordshire."