Shropshire Star

£56m Newtown bypass put on council agenda

Councillors were today due to discuss plans to build a bypass for a town ahead of a public inquiry.

Published
Russell George, AM for Montgomeryshire

Work is due to start on the £56 million Newtown bypass this year, but a public inquiry into the plans has been called for June.

Newtown Town Council will discuss the plans and receive information about when and where the public inquiry will be held at its meeting at 6.45pm tonight.

The Welsh Assembly announced last month it will hold the inquiry, which is expected to last no more than three weeks, on a date to be fixed in June.

Work will start on the 3.6m (5.8km) bypass this year and it is not expected the inquiry would delay that pending a successful outcome.

The current proposal sees the bypass start at a new roundabout on the A489 Llanidloes Road to the west of Newtown and run south of the Mochdre Industrial Estate east of Dolfor Road.

It would continue to the A489 Kerry Road junction and then south of the Vastre and Dyffryn Industrial Estates before crossing the Cambrian railway, ending at a roundabout on the A483 Pool Road, east of Newtown.

Russell George, Montgomeryshire AM, who has been leading the campaign to bring the bypass to Newtown, said he expected the public inquiry to be held.

He said: "Major infrastructure projects such as these very rarely proceed without a public inquiry and the timescale for the construction of the bypass had already allowed for such an inquiry to occur.

"I am grateful to many local people for engaging with the process and submitting their views."

Meanwhile, town businessman Doug Hughes, of Hughes Architects, said more needs to be done to ensure the bypass provides more opportunities than just a road scheme.

Mr Hughes said the community must work together to benefit from the investment in the town.

He said: "We are now in the cusp of what could be the largest investment in the area for a generation.

"But while a great deal has been done to secure these investments, there is still a need for a more cohesive approach from each and every community. The bypass is not just about solving the area's traffic problems, specifically in Newtown. It is about attracting new commercial and industrial investment in the area."

The meeting will be held at the town council offices on The Cross.

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