Council looks for way out of relief road scheme

A council has asked the government if it could end a controversial ring road project, but keep the £39m government money it has spent to date.

In the run up to the recent local elections, the Liberal Democrats pledged to scrap Shrewsbury's North West Relief Road if they took control of the authority.

They won power with 42 of the 74 seats and have now written to the government to ask for a discussion over their options.

In the letter, council leader Heather Kidd said: "Taxpayers rightly demand that their money is spent wisely, and we feel we have inherited a near impossible situation to progress the scheme, which is only likely be solved by intervention from Ministers."

The letter, signed by Ms Kidd and her deputy, Alex Wagner, was addressed to the Secretary of State for Transport and notes that, while the Department for Transport had initially committed £54m to the scheme, Shropshire Council was responsible for the rest.

It goes on to say that inflation and delays meant the cost of the project now stands at an estimated £215m.

The Lib Dem administration said it "cannot guarantee that this funding gap can be covered" and that it would not be financially responsible to borrow the required money.

The council pointed out that Norfolk County Council did not have to return £33m when it withdrew a link road application, and asked the government for "an open and honest discussion".

It also asked to draw a line under plans for the Oxon Link Road and suggested less costly alternatives to reduce congestion could be looked at instead.

The relief road project was started and pushed forward by the previous Conservative administration on Shropshire Council.

Ahead of the local elections, both Labour and the Green Party had also pledged to scrap it, and the Green Party leader, Julian Dean, said the council "is at risk of bankruptcy" if it cancels the two roads projects and are forced to pay back the £39m spent.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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