PM is asked to review Shrewsbury North West Relief Road plan

Better Shrewsbury Transport wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister and Shrewsbury’s MP Daniel Kawczynski, after thousands of objections to the £87 million plans for Shrewsbury’s North West Relief Road.

The campaign group’s letter to the PM praises him for his recent announcement that the UK would toughen its targets on greenhouse gas emissions, cutting carbon dioxide by 78 per cent by 2035 compared with 1990 levels.

But it then questions how the road, which is estimated may produce 70,000 tonnes of CO2 from its construction alone, fits it into this plan.

Mike Streetly, a spokesman for Better Transport Shrewsbury, said: “If the UK is going to achieve the Prime Minister’s bold new climate targets, we have to build back greener.

"When Shropshire Council submitted a business case for the North West Road in 2017, it claimed the road would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"But the council’s climate assessment now shows that the project will actually emit 70,000 tonnes of CO2 compared to an annual saving of just 356 tonnes. The figures don’t add up.”

The letter calls for the Department for Transport to reconsider its £54m funding and highlights the number of objections the project has attracted.

There are currently more than 2,000 official responses to the plans – mostly negative – but campaigners believe the real number could be closer to 3,000, due to a delay in processing them.

The deadline for the consultation on the four-mile stretch of road, which would run from Churncote roundabout to Battlefield, was extended until this Friday due to the number of responses that poured in.