Shropshire transport plans 'fail to deliver' - campaigners

Better Transport Shropshire were responding the Shropshire Council's draft Local Plan, which sets out plans for the future of the county and outlines planning policies.

The sustainable transport campaign group says that while the council states it wants safe and healthy communities moving towards a zero carbon economy, information in the plan contradicts the claim.

A spokesman said: "Having reviewed the local plan and large volume of associated information in detail, we are of the view that what has been put forward is completely inadequate and will fail to deliver a future for the county that in any way resembles the stated vision.

"Instead, the plan describes a set of policies that will deliver ‘business as usual’ i.e. large amounts of car dependent, edge of town development that will result in more, rather than less, traffic congestion.

"This despite the council’s continued promotion of the disastrous North West Relief Road for Shrewsbury that will suck up the last dribbles of capital from the council’s depleted resources before devastating the open countryside on Shrewsbury’s doorstep.

"The main omission in the plan is that it fails to set a path for a zero carbon Shropshire that must be our community’s response to the global climate emergency.

"The council doesn’t have a local transport plan to explain how all these new houses can be built without leading to increased congestion.

"These major gaps in the evidence required to underpin the plan mean that Shropshire will need to substantially re-write the plan in order to deliver one that will meet the challenges that this and future generations demand."