'Chucking money about in cost of living crisis': Council criticised over Shrewsbury relief road spending

It comes after leaders revealed planning costs are already £7.3m over budget for the road proposal, a project which has generated a groundswell of opposition, with more than 5,000 people filing public objections.

The road, which would run for four miles from Churncote island to Battlefield and effectively complete a ring road around Shrewsbury, was last priced up at £81 million. But, with construction costs soaring, the real figure would be significantly higher.

At public questions at a council meeting last Thursday, Councillor Richard Marshall, Shropshire Council's portfolio holder for highways, said the cost to date of preparing the planning application for the four-mile stretch of road in Shrewsbury is £22.3m. Another million was spent on preparing the initial business case.

He went on to explain that the cost is expected to reach £23.3m by the time the full business case is submitted to the Department for Transport for approval.

Mike Streetly, speaking for campaign group Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST), said: "The council has completely lost control of this project. This shows that the NWRR is already destined to be 50 per cent over budget before an inch of Tarmac is laid.

"The administration is burning through cash as it tries to convince regulators and the Government that the road won't be a total disaster.

"We’re in a cost of living crisis. People across Shropshire are tightening their belts. Yet Shropshire Council is merrily chucking more taxpayer money at expensive consultants and reports. They seem intent on bankruptcy. A few weeks ago we were told that the cost to date was £16m, now we’re told it’s £22.3m."

Labour group leader Julia Buckley, added: "Despite rising costs in a fiscal environment where all other ‘non-mandatory’ council services are being cut by £51m, the administration continue with this irresponsible and expensive folly.

"It is time our council took responsibility for the huge risk with our public funds, and reviewed this project’s viability in the current economic climate. Put simply: we can’t afford to pursue a project that no-one wants."

Lib Dem councillor Rob Wilson said: "It’s been clear for sometime that Shropshire Council is committing every resident in the county to an ever larger, undefined bill. The traffic modelling for the NWRR shows some moderate reductions, and even increases in some areas. Unaffordable, ineffective, and out of date before it’s built."

Green Party councillor Julian Dean said: "The council leadership need to smell the coffee; when you look at the combination of spiralling costs and continued environmental concerns it should be clear by now that the scheme is heading for the rocks. It’s not too late steer the council towards investing is a properly sustainable transport future; more buses, improved cycling and walking options and then less congestion."

A Shropshire Council spokesman said the authority "has been open about the costs of the scheme to date and that these will reflect rising cost pressures across the whole of the construction industry".

He added: "Subject to approval of the planning application, which the council expects to come forward for determination in the summer, a full business case for the North West Relief Road would then need to be submitted which would outline the scheme’s costs and how this would be funded."