Leading councillor welcomes controversial relief road clearing its latest planning hurdle

Councillor Dan Morris, Shropshire Council's cabinet member in charge of highways, was speaking after the authority's Northern Planning Committee signed off on a key stage of the proposals.

The controversial road was approved by the same committee in October, but Thursday saw members signing off on a series of conditions over how the project proceeds.

The conditions are required due to concerns raised by Severn Trent and the Environment Agency over the potential impact of construction work on Shrewsbury's water supply.

But, with those conditions now agreed by the planning committee the project will proceed to its next stage, with the council now looking to finalise a 'full business case' for the scheme.

That business case will then be submitted to the Government along with the request for the as yet unknown cost of the project – expected to be well in excess of the £81m previously budgeted for the scheme.