North West Relief Road gets new portfolio holder in Shropshire Council reshuffle
Shropshire Council's leader has completed her cabinet reshuffle and appointed a new portfolio holder to take charge of the North West Relief Road.
The sudden and unexpected resignation on Friday of Richard Marshall as Conservative Councillor for Worfield and portfolio holder for Highways and Regulatory Services left the Tory authority with a gap in one of its most important departments.
Council leader Lezley Picton has now moved to select a replacement, appointing the well-respected Burnell councillor Dan Morris as cabinet member for Highways and Infrastructure.
It means he is now in charge of one of the council's biggest and most contentious projects: Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road.
As part of the re-shuffle Councillor Picton has also changed the responsibilities attached to two portfolios – effectively splitting two roles into four.
Mr Marshall's previous portfolio had included Highways and Regulatory Services. Regulatory services includes planning responsibilities, which has now been moved to a separate brief, taken on by Oswestry East Councillor Chris Schofield, who steps up from a position as a deputy cabinet member under the title 'Cabinet Member for Planning and Regulatory Services'.
The portfolio for Growth, Housing and Regeneration, which was handled by Councillor Dean Carroll, has also been split.
Councillor Carroll remains in charge of Housing and Assets, while Councillor Mark Jones, who represents Gobowen, Selattyn and Weston Rhyn, steps up from his position as deputy to take on the portfolio for Economic Growth and Regeneration.
Councillor Picton said: “I am delighted that we have Chris, Mark and Dan in their new roles. They will join the other members of cabinet, all of us, focused on the council delivering on the priorities for our county through the Shropshire Plan.
"Being a cabinet member is a demanding role, and I am realigning some of the portfolios to make the most of having additional people joining the team.
"I would like to take a moment to thank Richard Marshall who recently stood down from the council for personal reasons. He was always a hard-working councillor and cabinet member."
The new cabinet members will take up their posts on Thursday, July 20.
Councillor Schofield, who has represented the Oswestry East Division since 2021 and runs a local family business, was previously Deputy Portfolio holder for Highways and has served as an Oswestry town councillor for more than 15 years.
He said: “I am proud to be taking on the responsibilities for planning and regulatory services on cabinet.
"With our new local plan undergoing inspection and existing developments already underway there is plenty to do in ensuring we get the right quality and type of development for Shropshire. It also remains important that people can feel safe and confident in local venues and services through the work our regulatory services team provides.”
Councillor Morris, who works in his family beef farming business, has represented the Burnell division since May 2017.
He said: “I am delighted to accept the offer of looking after the Highways and Infrastructure brief on cabinet. One of the key projects for the council is the North West Relief Road and I look forward to helping push this project forward as it is so important for the future economic growth of our county, as well as easing congestion and pollution in our county town of Shrewsbury.”
Councillor Jones is a fourth generation councillor, with his grandfather, Thomas Henry Jones, an Alderman on Salop County Council in the 1960s.
He said: "I am very pleased to take up the cabinet role of Economic Growth and Regeneration and continue our ambitious growth strategy and using our assets to generate economic benefits for all Shropshire people.
"We, as a council, have a real chance to shape the economic landscape and get incomes to rise across Shropshire. Despite our budgetary challenges, we need to keep looking forward and attract businesses and people to settle in our beautiful county."
