Shrewsbury MP says fundraiser for relief road legal challenge is 'deeply depressing'
An MP who has campaigned for Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road says attempts to fund a legal challenge to the plan are "deeply depressing".
Shrewsbury & Atcham's Conservative MP, Daniel Kawczynski, was speaking after opponents of Shropshire Council's road scheme launched a crowd-funder to raise £20,000 to tackle the plan in the courts.
As of this morning the fundraiser had reached £6,612.
Mr Kawczynski, who has consistently campaigned and lobbied for the road, said: "We have worked so hard for so many years to secure this massive investment for Shrewsbury.
"Even now at this late stage after years of delays a tiny minority plan to obstruct as much as possible.
"I don't know how sustainable our nation is and will continue to be when these people continue to have so much power to obstruct what democratically elected representatives fight for and secure. Deeply depressing."
The fundraiser was launched by Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST), which argues that the road poses a risk to Shrewsbury's drinking water, while also opposing the loss of trees which will be chopped down to make way for the road.
Mr Streetly, a veteran hydrogeologist, said: "BeST has spent the last four years doing detailed analysis of the council’s proposals, with a team of experts analysing everything from the scheme’s carbon emissions, traffic modelling, environmental impact and the risk to the Shelton drinking water borehole.
"We have repeatedly and tirelessly explained to the council exactly what is wrong with this road and why it shouldn’t go ahead.
"In return the council have stuck their fingers in their ears and ignored us. A legal challenge is now the last chance to stop this disastrous project from going ahead."
The proposal was finally approved by Shropshire Council's Northern Planning Committee last month.
That was followed by a boost for the council when the Government said it would fund 100 per cent of the costs of the road – understood to have ballooned from the original expectations of around £81m.
But issues remain with the council having to satisfy both the Environment Agency and Severn Trent Water concerns over potential for the road to impact on Shrewsbury's water supply, from the Shelton borehole.
The application was approved despite the concerns, but the council must agree conditions with both organisations to ensure they are confident in construction proceeding.
The BeST crowdfunding page can be seen at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/nwrr
