'The worst of both worlds': North West Relief Road row continues as Shropshire parties clash on cancellation call
Shropshire Council's political groups have clashed over the impending cancellation of the controversial North West Relief Road.
It was confirmed this week that the authority's Liberal Democrat administration intends to officially cancel the North West Relief Road (NWRR).
The matter will go before full council tomorrow for a vote, and comes after months of the costly scheme being left in limbo.
While the relief road is set to be scrapped, the administration has said the Oxon Link Road (OLR) will survive for a future decision.
The OLR was initially a separate project, but was added to the North West Relief Road scheme as the project was developed.
In its statement explaining the move the council said the scheme was now unaffordable and would require borrowing from the public works loans board, which would see Shropshire residents having to pay back more than £4m a year.
The NWRR scheme, which was a flagship policy of the council's previous Conservative administrations, now looks truly dead in the water, with £32m spent on the project which will never see the light of day.
The decision has been met with differing views from across the council chamber.
The authority's opposition Reform Group has expressed "deep concern" at the move, saying the decision leaves the public with "the worst of both worlds", with no relief road and no alternative to alleviate traffic issues in the town.
The council's Labour group said it was time to "close this dreadful chapter", while the Green Party said the decision to cancel was "long overdue".
A statement from the Reform group said: "Reform UK councillors across north Shropshire have expressed deep concern at the cancellation of the North West Relief Road, saying residents across the area have been left with worsening congestion and no replacement plan because of political decisions made by previous administrations.
"A newly released council report confirms that more than £32 million has already been spent on the NWRR, yet the project has now been abandoned after costs escalated from £74 million in 2018 to £162 million in 2024, leaving an £88 million funding gap that the authority cannot meet.
"Councillor Mandy Duncan (Sundorne and Old Heath) has highlighted that the NWRR was intended to provide congestion relief, improve access to key employment areas and strengthen economic links between Shrewsbury and the northern market towns. Despite these widely recognised benefits, the project became financially undeliverable due to years of inadequate oversight by the previous administrations.
"The cancellation now leaves communities with the worst of both worlds - no relief road and no credible alternative plan. Sundorne and Old Heath continue to face heavy congestion on Sundorne Road, Telford Way and Whitchurch Road; Battlefield and Harlescott remain constrained along the A5124 corridor; and northern market towns lose a strategic route that would have supported jobs and connectivity."
The group added that its members believe pursuing the OLR would be a mistake, saying: "Reform UK is also clear that the Oxon Link Road is a waste of public money and will achieve nothing for the communities who were supposed to benefit from the wider relief road scheme.
"The OLR was designed to function as part of a larger network; without the NWRR it becomes an expensive, isolated stretch of road that delivers no meaningful congestion relief, no strategic connectivity for north Shropshire, and no economic uplift for the market towns. It would be irresponsible to continue spending millions on a fragment of a project that can no longer serve its intended purpose."
The group added that the handling of the project should now be investigated.
It said: "Reform UK councillors across the north are united in the view that their areas have been badly let down. While cancellation may now be unavoidable because of the financial emergency, the situation is a direct consequence of decisions made by other parties over many years.
"The group is calling for an independent investigation into how the NWRR was managed, with particular focus on cost escalation and financial oversight.
"Reform UK will continue to ensure that the concerns of North Shropshire residents are heard and that the county does not repeat the mistakes that have led to the loss of this long‑promised infrastructure.”
Councillor Rosemary Dartnall, leader of the Labour group said the road was "probably never affordable".
She said: "Shropshire Council’s unaffordable NWRR project is likely coming to the end of its life. Councillors will decide on Thursday whether or not to cancel the project after £32m has been spent on it - all tax-payers money, for which we have absolutely nothing to show.
"The project has been mired in secrecy and heavily criticised by the council’s external auditors and opposition groups.
"The road was probably never affordable and the wasted spending plays a large part in the council’s perilous financial situation.
"Council spending on this project was always known to be 'at risk'.
"Fortunately, the Labour Government has responded positively to Shropshire Council’s application for exceptional financial support, providing £230m in loans to keep the council afloat.
"We want to close this dreadful chapter and continue to work with every political group on the council to deliver the best public services for all in Shropshire.”
Responding to the developments, Duncan Kerr, leader of the council's Green Party group, said: "The Green group welcome the long-overdue termination of this environmentally damaging and financially unaffordable relief road.
"If the council had spent the same amount of time and energy on improving public and active travel then all the residents of Shropshire would have felt the benefit.
"The sting in the tail of this scheme is the £32m that has already been spent on it by Shropshire Council which will now have to be paid for by borrowing.
"That will cost all the communities of Shropshire some £3m or so every year for the next 20 years. It underlines the point that sustainable transport is not just good for the planet its good for the economy also."
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