Campaigners call on Council and Government to clarify relief road funding

Campaigners against the North West Relief Road (NWRR) in Shrewsbury are calling on Shropshire Council to clarify how the project will be funded.

It comes amid news that the Department for Transport (DfT) has left other councils struggling to find funds after rowing back on road funding commitments.

Mike Streetly from Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST) says:

"As the cost of the North West Relief Road spirals to over £200m, both Shropshire Council and the Department for Transport (DfT) need to be transparent with residents.

"How much exactly has the DfT pledged to spend on this road? Are they writing a blank cheque to cover all of the costs or not?

"In the words of Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, “Show us the money!” Taxpayers in Shropshire are already worried about the council’s solvency and the North West Relief Road has the potential to push this administration into bankruptcy. We urgently need to know what the DfT is committed to spending."

BeST is calling for clarity on five key questions:

- How much will the NWRR actually cost?

- How much has the DfT committed to spending on the NWRR?

- Who will be responsible for any cost overrun if the scheme proves even more expensive than currently expected?

- Who will pay for the drainage system required to protect the borehole?

- Who will be financially responsible for restoring drinking water to Shrewsbury’s 70,000 residents if the borehole is contaminated during the road’s construction or use?

The call comes after roads minister Guy Opperman failed to confirm funding uplift for works to the Tyne Bridge and Newcastle Motorway, leaving Tyne council £6m short on the £41.4m scheme. The resulting row has led to the ‘Network North’ funding pot being ‘widely-ridiculed’ according to industry publication Highways Magazine.

Meanwhile, other road schemes in the Network North pot have been told that the promised ‘100% funding’ only refers to the Outline Business Case (OBC) costs. The OBC costs for the North West Relief Road were £81m. This would leave Shropshire Council around £120m short of the road’s predicted £200m cost.

Conservative Shropshire councillors have taken to social media to reassure people that the funding is in place with Councillor Dean Carroll writing on a post on Facebook that the Secretary of State had confirmed funding and the DfT would be issuing a full statement on the matter. The post was on 25 January, but no statement has yet been made public.

Mike Streetly added:

"Last year the Transport Secretary Mark Harper went on BBC Midlands and promised that the NWRR was ‘fully funded’. A few weeks ago Councillor Carroll promised people in Battlefield that the ‘funding was in place’. But nobody wants to confirm how much that funding is.

"With Shropshire Council on the verge of bankruptcy, local services collapsing, and council tax being hiked up, we urgently need to know who will pay for this road. It’s time for the DfT and Shropshire Council to tell the truth. What is the current level of funding that the DfT is committed to?"