Controversial Shrewsbury sensational loan approved despite huge number of objections
Shrewsbury’s controversial North West Relief Road has been granted planning permission – two and a half years after proposals were first submitted
The Shropshire Council scheme, which would effectively complete the ‘ring-road’ around Shrewsbury, was approved following a marathon four-hour meeting of Shropshire Council’s Northern Planning Committee.
Ultimately the plans squeaked through by the narrowest of margins, with the 11-member committee voting by six members to five to grant approval, with the numbers split along party lines.
All six of the ruling administration’s Conservative members voted to approve the proposal, with the Lib Dem, Labour and Green Party opposition members voting against, after earlier failing 6-5 with a motion to defer the proposal.
The meeting, which took place in the council chamber at Shirehall, had been preceded by a protest from campaigners.
It came after more than 5,000 people had submitted objections to the plans.
Around 100 people turned out with placards to make their opposition clear, although only a selection were allowed inside the actual meeting due to restrictions on space.
In surroundings which showed the council was prepared for disruption, a number of security guards were in place, while those present in the chamber were warned by planning committee chairman Paul Wynn that disruption would not be tolerated, and that it was a ‘meeting in public, and not a public meeting’.
There was one early casualty with a woman asked to leave the meeting for clapping following speeches from objectors.
The meeting heard from a number of objectors and supporters – with concerns about the impact on the environment through the carbon the road will create, the impact on trees and habitats lost to the construction, but most importantly the Environment Agency’s worries about the potential for contamination of the source of Shrewsbury’s drinking water.
The EA’s concern is that construction work for a bridge, and the creation of a roundabout at Shelton Rough, both have the potential to risk contamination of the boreholes that provide the town’s water.
