Campaigners accuse council of ‘desperation’ over North West Relief Road

Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST) has reacted after it was announced that the controversial road scheme will go before the Northern Planning Committee on 18 July.

They say the plan is being pushed ahead even though statutory stakeholders including the Environment Agency and Severn Trent Water are still warning that the road could wreck Shrewsbury’s drinking water supply.

Mike Streetly from Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST), the local campaign group calling for sustainable alternatives to the North West Relief Road (NWRR), said:

‘It is positively reckless for Shropshire Council to try and ram this project through planning when crucial issues raised by both the Environment Agency and Severn Trent Water about the road’s impact on Shrewsbury’s drinking water supply haven’t been addressed.

"The council is desperate and flailing. It knows it chose the wrong route for the road – building it dangerously close to the Shelton Rough borehole that supplies drinking water to Shrewsbury and a big chunk of Shropshire. Now it’s trying to force it through planning because it has run out of options."

DEFRA concerns

Shrewsbury & Atcham’s MP Daniel Kawczynski recently wrote to Therese Coffey, the environment secretary, criticising the Environment Agency’s ‘excessive demands’ over the road’s potential impact on drinking water supplies.

On Friday the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) responded to Mr Kawczynski in a written answer in Parliament. DEFRA’s response said: "The Environment Agency [has] outstanding concerns about issues to do with protecting the water resources aquifer from which Severn Trent Water draws water supplies for the town of Shrewsbury. The Environment Agency does not consider the information supplied by the Council and its representatives to demonstrate an appropriate level of assessment and risk mitigation."

Campaigners say that any attempt to take the road to planning before concerns raised by statutory stakeholders like the Environment Agency and Severn Trent Water are satisfied will lead to an inevitable legal challenge and further expense for Shropshire Council.

'Rush things through'

Mike Streetly from BeST continued:

"Why on earth are Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury & Atcham’s MP gambling with our precious drinking water? By trying to rush things through the planning committee, they are undermining the good work of the Environment Agency, which has a statutory duty to protect the town’s water supply.

“The council apparently cares more about the NWRR than the safety of our tap water. The borehole at Shelton Rough is a major strategic resource. If it becomes contaminated, Shrewsbury and a large chunk of Shropshire will no longer have safe drinking water and the costs will run into hundreds of millions. This isn’t something they should be cutting corners on. If the borehole is wrecked, who is going to pick up the bill? Shropshire residents should be really, really worried about the council’s decision to ignore all the risks. This administration has totally lost the plot. It seems that the financial situation, both for the project and at the council has driven it to this reckless decision.”