Shrewsbury MP and councillor meet with Environment Agency chief over North West Relief Road impasse
An MP and a senior councillor have met with the chief executive of the Environment Agency to discuss the ongoing impasse over the North West Relief Road.
Shrewsbury & Atcham's Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski was joined by Councillor Dan Morris, Shropshire Council's cabinet member responsible for highways, for the meeting with Philip Duffy, who took on the role in charge of the Environment Agency (EA) at the start of July.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Kawczynski said Mr Duffy had pledged to discuss the outstanding issues over its objection to the North West Relief Road (NWRR) with its officers and provide an update in a month's time.
He also agreed to visit Shrewsbury to discuss the project with the council and other organisations.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency described the meeting as "constructive".
The NWRR was originally expected to go before a planning committee before the end of 2021.
But, EA concerns over the potential impact of construction work on Shrewsbury's drinking water have not yet been resolved.
The concerns still stand and until the issue is addressed the project is unlikely to proceed.
Mr Kawczynski said: "I am grateful to the new chief executive of the Environment Agency for meeting me so early into his appointment.
"He understands the significance of the North West Relief Road and appreciates my strength of feeling about moving it forward to a planning committee.
"The chief executive is keen to help resolve the outstanding issues, and he personally will now be speaking with his local team to accelerate the process.
"Him visiting Shrewsbury is exciting and I look forward to welcoming him to the town later this year."
Councillor Morris added: "I am grateful to Daniel for arranging this meeting. It was good to meet with the chief executive and to outline the position with the EA and the NWRR as Shropshire Council sees it.
"It was recognised that Shropshire Council has made good progress in dealing with outstanding issues. The EA and Shropshire Council work closely on many matters relating to Shropshire and this will continue to be the case."
An Environment Agency spokesman said: "Environment Agency chief executive Philip Duffy had a constructive meeting with Daniel Kawczynski MP and Councillor Dan Morris today where they discussed how to advance the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road whilst protecting clean water for the town of Shrewsbury, flood risk reduction and the work of the River Severn Partnership.”
The meeting came the day after the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said it wanted to take back £4.2m awarded to Shropshire Council which is being used for part of the relief road project.
The money was awarded for the Oxon Link Road, which has since been combined with the relief road planning application.
Due to the delay in progress on the project – with the funding awarded in 2015 – the LEP agreed to ask for the money back.
But the issue is not set in stone as yet and will need to be confirmed by a written vote as not enough representatives from member councils were present at the meeting.
Reacting to the development, which could be a major headache for Shropshire Council if it is formalised, Mr Kawczynski said: "I very much hope the LEP will continue to support the council on this critical infrastructure project."
