No dam or flood scheme with North West Relief Road proposals
Plans for Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road will not include a dam or flood prevention measures when it is submitted in February.
However, Shropshire Council officials say a flood alleviation scheme could be joined with the project at a later date, depending on the findings of an ongoing water management proposal by the Environment Agency and the River Severn Partnership.
The council has now confirmed that it will be lodging a full application in the next couple of months, outlining the business case for a full viaduct crossing of the River Severn.
Calls have been made to incorporate flood prevention measures after the river burst its banks twice in February, causing carnage for homes and businesses in the town.
Matt Johnson, the council's executive manager for strategic projects, said: “Shropshire Council is intending to submit a full planning application for the NWRR in February 2021. This application will revert to the outline business case proposals for a full viaduct crossing of the River Severn and cover the delivery of the NWRR only.
“As such, this application will not pre-empt, accommodate in design terms, or infer any further, future and separate application arising at a later stage from the EA/River Severn Partnership around a wider water management proposal.
Criticism
“The water management proposal is currently under development by EA under the River Severn Partnership, and at this stage does not rely on the specifications within the NWRR application.
"If opportunities are identified to conjoin the two schemes at a later stage, there would be a full and further application made on this basis where the proposals would be subject to further planning scrutiny.”
Lobby group Better Transport Shrewsbury was critical of the council's decision to lodge an application, insisting it would have been more sensible to do so after the findings of the water management study.
A spokesperson for the group said: “This decision to go ahead with a planning application is really surprising given what we know about the ongoing work by the Environment Agency on behalf of the River Severn Partnership.
"They are looking at all the possibilities to relieve flooding along the Severn and this includes the option to run the road on top of a dam sited just upstream of Shrewsbury.
"They say their report will be available mid 2021 so why not wait until then when it will be known whether a combined scheme is viable?
"To go ahead with a planning application, asking for full permission, based on crossing the river valley on a viaduct is puzzling unless Shropshire Council have already decided to have nothing to do with a flood scheme.
"At the consultation about the road in February/March this year, the road was shown crossing the river valley, part on an embankment.
"Then there was the dam proposed and now apparently it is a viaduct.
"Confusion seems to be rife and the effort and money being spent on the application is at risk of being wasted.
"In addition, because the consultation did not include a viaduct and incorrectly stated the overall cost of the scheme there are serious questions about the validity of that exercise.”
