Campaigners question emergency services support for Shrewsbury North West Relief Road

On Thursday, Shropshire fire, police and health services stated their support for the controversial project. They were joined by one of the directors of Arriva West Midlands which operates bus services in Shrewsbury.

Now campaigners against the road are asking critical questions about the traffic evidence that was shared with these bosses to convince them that the road would deliver time-saving reductions in congestion.

It comes as the council is already facing a costly legal challenge from Morris Leisure, which owns the Oxon Touring Park in Bicton, over the council’s continued refusal to supply it with vital traffic data.

Mike Streetly from campaign group Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST) says: 

"We were very surprised to see senior leaders from public bodies coming out in support of this project since the traffic modelling that would support their claims hasn’t been publicly released by the council.

"One of two things seems to have happened: either these leaders have been given access to confidential information that isn’t being shared with the planning committee; or they are giving their full-throated support for the road without properly examining the evidence.

"The only traffic assessment available on the planning portal is from 2021 based on 2017 traffic figures. That report certainly doesn’t support claims that the NWRR will reduce journey times near the hospital for instance, so what has convinced these senior leaders about the road?"

Among the local leaders who came out in support of the scheme on Thursday was SaTH interim chief executive Jo Williams who stated "the North West Relief Road will significantly improve access to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for our patients and staff." However, campaigners say that the traffic modelling in the public domain actually shows this isn’t the case.

Mike says, "The 2021 Transport Assessment suggests that the A5/B4386/B4386/Mytton Oak Road roundabout – where ambulances come onto Mytton Oak Road from the A5 – will see increased queues if the NWRR is built, with one arm forecast to operate over capacity.

"Similarly the council’s own figures show that the NWRR will worsen queuing at the Mytton Oak Road/Gains Park Way junction and at the Racecourse Lane/Mytton Oak Road Roundabout. This doesn’t represent a significant improvement in access to the hospital, so it’s surprising to see SaTH’s interim chief executive responding so positively to the project."

Recently Shropshire Council released a new Carbon Assessment for the NWRR which stated it was based on new traffic modelling. However, the new modelling is not available on the planning portal, which means it hasn’t been shared with members of the Northern Planning Committee or the public. Meanwhile requests from campaigners and Morris Leisure to see the new data have been refused.  

Mike added: "Given the traffic modelling is central to judging the application, we are calling for any new data to be released so that the planning balance can be properly assessed and the principle of development can be determined based on the latest evidence.

"Shropshire Council has said that the recent carbon reports were released in the interests of transparency. We don’t see why this doesn’t equally apply to the traffic modelling which they are based on.

"We’re not requesting the modelling itself, just the reports and figures. We find it very concerning that confidential data is apparently being shared with public bodies, but not with the Shropshire councillors who sit on the planning committee, nor with the taxpayers who are ultimately funding it."