Shrewsbury relief road to be considered in spring confirms council

Shropshire Council's planning committee had been expected to take a decision on the authority's proposals for the North West Relief Road (NWRR) in Shrewsbury in December.

However, the decision on the £80m road, was put back after it was decided that a number of consultees needed to be allowed more time to submit responses.

The Environment Agency had written to the council in October saying it still had concerns about the project and requested further information.

Pressed about the issue at a meeting of Shropshire Council's cabinet this morning, the authority's Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Regeneration & Planning, Councillor Ed Potter, said the plans are expected to be considered by spring.

The question had come from a member of the public, Emma Bullard, who queried the series of delays in considering the proposal, and asked whether it would impact on funding being provided by the government for the project.

She said: "Has a date been set for the northern planning committee to make a decision in the NWRR? If so when will that be? In July 2019 the council expected the decision to be made in spring 2020, by December 2019 the date was expected to be summer 2020, since the planning application was submitted in March 2021 committee dates have been suggested in Summer 2021, then late autumn.

"The previous portfolio holder appeared to expect a decision by the end of 2021, the current portfolio holder has been quoted in the press as saying the NWRR is settled and attention can now turn to other infrastructure projects. Saying the road is settled suggests the case is ready to go to the planning committee, if it is not ready what are the issues that still need attention? How close are they to being resolved? Is there a deadlines for claiming the funding from the Department of Transport?"

Responding Councillor Potter said that the Department for Transport was aware of the timescale, and there was no worry about the delay affecting the access to the government funding.

He said: "It was anticipated that the report would be considered at a planning committee in December 2021 however as the report was being prepared for December there were still some outstanding matters requiring further attention by statutory consultees before they could finalise their formal responses i.e. the Environment Agency, archaeology and others.

"It was considered necessary to give more time for the matters to be concluded and it is therefore anticipated the application will go to committee in Spring 2022.

"In terms of the deadline for claiming DFT funding officers have been working closely with DFT who are fully aware of the project timeline and there is no concern."