Campaign group Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST) has called for a “full and thorough” inquiry into the controversial North West Relief Road (NWRR) project, labelling it a “disaster.”
The demand comes as Shropshire Council prepares to vote on the project’s future on Wednesday, July 17th, and in the wake of revelations that the Department for Transport (DfT) will provide no additional funding beyond its original £54 million grant.
This news directly contradicts previous claims by Conservative councillors that the road was “fully funded” by the Government, leaving Shropshire Council facing a potential £175 million shortfall if they choose to proceed.
BeST argues that regardless of Wednesday’s decision, a comprehensive investigation is critical to understand how the previous administration managed to spend £39 million of public money without a single metre of road being built.
Mike Streetly, a spokesperson for BeST, expressed widespread public anger: “People across Shropshire are furious about the relief road disaster and, in particular, the pigheadedness and incompetence that led to £39 million of public money being spent without anything to show for it. Something has clearly gone seriously wrong. A full and thorough inquiry is the only way to learn the lessons and reassure the public that something like this won’t happen again.”
Streetly also highlighted the Liberal Democrats’ past stance on the issue: “When the Liberal Democrats were in opposition, they were instrumental in getting Shrewsbury Town Council to call for an inquiry into the NWRR. We are asking them to follow through on this now they are in power.”
BeST has formally written to two senior Shropshire Liberal Democrats, Cllr David Vasmer (Highways & Environment) and Cllr Rob Wilson (Transport), as well as Cllr Duncan Kerr (Green Party), the new chair of the Audit Committee.
The campaign group is urging the new administration to investigate three key areas:
Vast sums spent on consultants and financial mismanagement
BeST demands a clear explanation for the spiralling costs and how councillors were allegedly not properly briefed. They also question how the council “accidentally” voted to spend an extra £95 million on the road in 2023, and why external funders like the DfT and Marches LEP were not adequately informed about the significant overspend.
Flaws in the Council’s February 2025 Full Business Case
BeST refutes claims by Conservative councillors that the NWRR Full Business Case is robust and that the project was fully funded. They advocate for a refreshed Cost:Benefit analysis that includes the full scheme costs (including all work to date and inflation), removes discredited “wider economic benefits,” and incorporates the costs and benefits of the £52 million Oxon Link Road, which was rolled into the NWRR project but omitted from the Business Case. BeST believes this would reveal the project’s true lack of value for money.
Failure of the planning process
BeST is calling for a review of the planning process, particularly the lack of separation between Shropshire Council acting as both the Local Planning Authority (LPA) and the Applicant. This “marking its own homework” scenario raised significant concerns from Severn Trent Water and the Environment Agency regarding the protection of Shrewsbury’s drinking water supply and the LPA’s inability to enforce conditions against itself.
Betrayed by the previous administration
Mike Streetly concluded: “People across Shropshire have been totally betrayed by the previous administration’s blinkered and incompetent approach, which explains why the Tories were wiped out in the local elections.
“Yet, even after everything that’s happened, senior Shropshire Conservatives are still claiming that the discredited Business Case they cobbled together is workable. An inquiry is the only way for the council’s leaders to understand what went wrong and ensure it never happens again.
“The NWRR was Shropshire’s HS2 – a bloated, out-of-control mess that didn’t deliver anything except lucrative fees for consultants. It would be a mistake to simply sweep the past few years of bad governance under the rug without getting to the bottom of what caused it to go so badly wrong. The public deserves to know.”
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