Plans for major changes in the way people travel around Shrewsbury are 'moving forward'

The Shrewsbury Moves campaign was launched earlier this year by the Big Town Plan Partnership, made up of Shropshire Council, Shrewsbury Town Council and Shrewsbury BID.

The Shrewsbury Moves strategy, containing ideas such as introducing traffic loops – where cars must leave through the same direction they enter the town from, improving cycle routes, and creating more public spaces, was published in January.

A public consultation on the ideas resulted in more than 4,000 comments from nearly 1,400 respondents.

Now the group says that analysis of the consultation shows the top two priorities for respondents are 'reducing or removing through-traffic in the town centre', and 'providing an efficient public transport network with improved facilities'.

Shropshire Council’s Cabinet has now agreed to move ahead with the strategy, including finalising a 10-year delivery plan, subject to funding and more detailed work taking place.

Meanwhile, the Big Town Plan Partnership has recently secured more than £340,000 of UK Government Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF) to deliver a package of sustainable transport measures in Shrewsbury town centre over the coming months.

Councillor Dan Morris, Shropshire Council Cabinet member for highways, said the public response to the Shrewsbury Moves strategy was very encouraging.

“The Shrewsbury Moves strategy contained a really wide array of options and opportunities for how movement and public space could change,” he said. “So the first thing we need to do is thank everyone who took the time to give their feedback – their views are absolutely vital in shaping what happens next.

“There was clear support for the fundamental principles of the strategy, with people agreeing that reducing or removing through-traffic from the town centre should be the top priority.

“This consultation gives us the confidence to move forward with the more detailed work required to assess the impact of each proposal on Shrewsbury’s transport network.”

Councillor Alan Mosley, who represents Shrewsbury Town Council on the partnership, said: “We were very pleased with the level of response to the consultation, which shows that residents throughout the town, businesses and indeed visitors have a great interest in the way we all get around our town.

“After such a successful consultation there is inevitably a lot of work required to analyse the results and decide on the best course of action based on the feedback.

“We look forward to carrying out more modelling and research to ensure any proposals have the best possible impact. Residents and users can be assured plans will be published with full public consultation at each stage before decision-making and implementation, and that all views will be taken into account.”

Seb Slater, executive director of Shrewsbury BID, said the partnership was excited about turning the Shrewsbury Moves vision into reality.

He said: “The Shrewsbury Moves strategy contains a raft of connected proposals to improve access into and around the town.

“We are committed to bringing the strategy to life and are already making good progress thanks to the successful bid for UKSPF funding.

“We are going to be launching a subsidised electric bike scheme in the new year and a jetty has been installed to enable a river shuttle service between the West Mid Showground and Frankwell.

“The hope is that a steady increase in the transport options available will make people think differently about how they get into the town centre.”

For more information, visit shrewsburymoves.com.