Shrewsbury relief road protesters gather for final objection before scheme gets green light

Dozens turned out with signs and flags, with speeches made before Shropshire Council's 11-member Northern Planning Committee met at 2pm to go discuss the road designed to complete the ring road around the county town.

Tuesday's meeting was arranged solely to deal with the application which was first submitted more than two-and-a-half years ago, attracting around 5,300 objections compared to 230 comments in support.

Addressing campaigners outside Shirehall, Councillor Julian Dean from the Green Party, said that irrespective of today’s decision, it was "not the end of the road”, and said he believed the "business case for the road has collapsed".

Campaigner Teresa Adams added: “I just think it’s wrong. It’s based on flawed data and it is going to destroy invaluable trees and environment.”

She said she worked as a traffic engineer at the council in the 90s and says the case "was not good then and it is not good now".

Once the meeting started, councillors heard form planning officer Mike Davies, who authored the report which recommended approval for the scheme.

In an 'overview', he said objections included visual impact - particularly the viaduct and over bridge - noise and air quality pollution, climate change, biodiversity with the loss of veteran trees, and worries over impact on source of Shrewsbury’s drinking water.

He also said that nine veteran trees on the proposed route were described as “irreplaceable”, but said a compensation strategy would see them replaced at a ratio of 6:1.

Supporters also spoke at the meeting.

Shrewsbury & Atcham MP, Daniel Kawczynski said: “We need to build for future generations. We need to think like Victorians," while John Gittins from Ruyton XI Towns, added: "“In Ruyton you can not only hear the traffic, but you can smell the fumes, feel the vibrations and quite often have to dodge out of its way.”

Councillor Garry Burchett's message, in support, was read out, and said the road would have economic benefits for the town.

“Visitors do not want to come to a town that is constantly gridlocked. They want to be able to explore our beautiful town without breathing in heavy traffic fumes.”

However, Councillor Rob Wilson, who represents Copthorne, said in the meeting that reductions in traffic levels predicted were small in many cases - say 80 per cent of traffic will remain on the Mount, 75 per cent of traffic on Smithfield Road remains, while Shelton Road will see an increase of 150 per cent.

Committee member Ted Clarke added: “I cannot support this recommendation as long as the words are still in it from the Environment Agency saying significant risk is still possible to Shrewsbury’s water supply.

“It is a very significant statement and appears to be overlooked by much of the discussion."

The committee approved the scheme by six votes to five, on condition that conditions are brought back to committee for approval.