A talk hosted by the Shrewsbury Green Party has raised over £400 for the campaign to stop the North West Road.

The donations were taken after 50 people attended a talk entitled “Why The North West Road Will Ruin Shropshire” given by veteran sustainable transport campaigner Emma Bullard in February.

Donations were accepted on behalf of Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST), which is leading the campaign against Shrewsbury’s controversial road scheme. BeST is supported by the Shropshire Green Party as well as the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and other county groups involved in the environment and sustainable transport.

Says Emma Bullard: "It was fantastic to see so many people attend the talk I gave before the planning application was submitted and I was thrilled by their generous donations. The discussion after the talk was lively and knowledgeable. More and more people are now aware of the climate emergency and they are very concerned about the negative impact that building this road, which will produce 70,000 tonnes of carbon from its construction alone, will have.’

The talk’s Q&A section included discussion of alternative means of solving Shrewsbury’s congestion problem including investing in more sustainable transport methods.

Says Bullard: "Herefordshire Council recently cancelled the multi-million-pound Hereford bypass after a study of how to deal with the town’s congestion problems showed that investing in more walking and cycling would bring about the same traffic reduction at a quarter of the cost. Herefordshire will also invest in better bus services to help cope with travel demand. Sadly, Shropshire Council has not commissioned a similar study. If they did, they wouldn’t be forging ahead with this destructive, three-decades-out-of-date project which will not solve Shrewsbury’s traffic problems.

"It is clear that Shropshire Council is making a huge and costly mistake by pursuing this plan. It is a disaster for the environment, wildlife and the climate. It is also a disaster for Shropshire’s finances. Why should Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Oswestry see their local services slashed as Shrewsbury gets a new road at a cost of £20m per mile? We should be investing in green jobs as the best way to build back better after Covid. I do hope that residents across Shropshire will look at the planning application and visit the Better Shrewsbury Transport website to see how to object. If you agree with us that this road is a bad idea, now is the time to speak up."