Shropshire Council backs £95m road cost rise after accidental 'typo'

Councillors voted to back £95m of extra borrowing, after the figure was accidentally included by mistake in a report over a planned bypass.

The figure featured in a report on the North West Relief Road linking northern and western Shrewsbury.

A finance director said he had been "confused" when the figure was mentioned in the council debate.

Shropshire Council said the £95m figure that made its way into the report was not a true estimate.

It had raised concern over whether the true cost of the scheme had more than doubled from £87m to £182m.

The vote took place at a full council meeting on Thursday and, despite not committing the authority to taking out the loan, has sparked a backlash from critics who have questioned why such an error was not picked up.

In an email to Green group leader Julian Dean, director of finance James Walton admitted he was "confused" when the figure was mentioned in the debate as he was not aware it was on the list.

He said: "This row should have been deleted, it was missed, and I apologise.

"Early drafts of the spreadsheets apparently included holding figures for a number of items that were considered for inclusion in the report."

Mr Walton stated approvals given on Thursday "did not provide any additional funding" to the road, as the report's content outlined "considerations in relation to the [road]" rather than funding.

The figure would be corrected to members, he said.

Councillors at the Conservative-majority council approved a mid-year review of a capital investment programme. Included in a list of projects appended to a report, though not referenced in the report itself, was £95.3m of borrowing to plug a "funding gap" in the road's cost.

This was queried by opposition councillors who said they had not been given any new information about why more money was needed on top of what had been previously agreed, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Liberal Democrat councillor and transport campaigner Rob Wilson said he had been asking in vain for an updated cost estimate since he was elected in 2021.

He said: "Today at council the Conservatives proposed taking out a £95m loan to make up an unspecified funding gap.

"I asked why they would need £95m for an £87m road and was not given an answer."

The initial funding for the scheme was broken down into £54m of Department for Transport cash secured in 2019, £4.2m from the Local Enterprise Partnership, unless they decide in November to retract their investment, and the rest from Shropshire Council's capital budget.

Labour group leader Julia Buckley said: "We are being asked to find an extra £95m with no information."

Campaign group Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST), which wrote to the council earlier this week to request a formal investigation into the project, said the latest debacle was further evidence for abandoning the scheme.

Group spokesperson Emma Bullard said: "BeST has been warning for several years that the [North West Relief Road] can't be achieved for its original £87m price tag."

Shropshire Council has already spent £24m on preparatory work ahead of planning permission being granted, with a decision expected in the coming months.

Dan Morris, cabinet member for highways, said the full business case would be prepared if and when planning approval is granted, with a decision expected next month.

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