Shrewsbury North West Relief Road decision delayed again
The county's biggest roads project for decades is facing further delays, it has been confirmed.
Shropshire Council's proposal for Shrewsbury's controversial North West Relief Road had been expected to go before the authority's planning committee sometime next month.
But the council has now revealed an updated timescale for a decision on the application, with the expectation it will now be heard "by the end of summer".
It is the second time it has been put back, with the council originally planning for it to be heard at the end of last year.
The previous delays came after the Environment Agency and Natural England asked for more detail on the proposals before they could formulate a decision whether to back the plan or not.
Councillor Dean Carroll, the authority's cabinet member for highways, said they would look to get the application considered earlier, if possible.
He said: "The council is working to answer some detailed queries raised by statutory consultees following the submission of revisions to the planning application made in September 2021.
"This has resulted in a delay in the timescales originally envisaged for the planning application to be determined.
"We now expect to be able to bring the application to committee by the end of the summer and we will seek to do this earlier if possible."
The road would cost around £80.1 million and would effectively complete the ring road around Shrewsbury.
It has though been the subject of fierce opposition – including from environmental protesters who have been highly critical of providing a means for more cars to travel, and of the construction impact from building the road.
The cost of the road has come down from an original £87m.
The majority of the funding for the project has come from the Department for Transport, which has provided £54m, while the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership has given, £4.2m.
Speaking last month, the council's deputy leader councillor Ed Potter has said he expected the proposal to go before committee in Spring.
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."
