The incoming Liberal Democrat leaders of Shropshire Council have requested an emergency meeting with the transport secretary to discuss ending the beleaguered Shrewsbury North West Relief Road project.
While the new administration clearly state they wish to end the scheme, as per their election pledge, they also hinted they want to keep the £39m of government money the local authority has already spent on the project.
In the letter, which has been seen by Highways, leader elect Cllr Heather Kidd and deputy leader elect Cllr Alex Wagner, wrote that they 'are deeply concerned by the lack of ‘off ramp’ for the projects, which as it stands are not fully funded by Central Government'.
Outlining some of the troubled backstory, the two incoming leaders wrote: 'The DfT had initially committed £54 million to the scheme, with Shropshire Council making up most of the remainder of the original £71 million alongside other partners.
'Estimated costs, both through construction market inflation since the 2017 Outline Business Case stage and unavoidable delays through the planning process now stand at an estimated £215m.'
They conclude: 'Given the financial precarity of the Council, we cannot guarantee that this funding gap can be covered, nor can we in good faith argue that it would be financially responsible to borrow to cover the current shortfall in funding.
'There are potentially less costly alternatives which could achieve the main aims of the scheme – namely reducing traffic and congestion in Shrewsbury and supporting economic growth. Taxpayers rightly demand that their money is spent wisely, and we feel we have inherited a near impossible situation to progress the scheme which is only likely [to] be solved by intervention from Ministers.'
While the letter does not explicitly mention that the council has already spent £39m of government money on preparing the scheme, that cash could be a sticking point in any discussion with central government.
Earlier this year, under the previous administration, the highway authority set out various funding ‘scenarios’ for the scheme.
It argued that based on usual practice ‘if the scheme does not progress due to a decision that the Government makes’, the Government would meet the £39m but if the council decided not to progress the scheme, it would need to repay the £39m to Government.
‘If the council has to fund the £39m “sunk costs” bill, this would immediately create a new revenue pressure on the council’s budget for day-to-day services, on top of the £22m of new savings that need to be found next year due to a range of budget pressures,’ it said.
In the letter to the secretary of state, the incoming Liberal Democrat administration said it wanted 'an open and honest discussion with the Department for Transport – like those recently held with Norfolk County Council – about the scheme, and the options for Shropshire Council going forward'.
The reference to Norfolk CC relates to the fact the county was not asked to return £33m of government cash after it withdrew a planning application for the Norwich Western Link road in January over concerns about its impact on rare bats.
The Liberal Democrat group are now the majority political group on Shropshire Council following elections on 1 May, however they don’t formally take power until Full Council on 22 May.
At the time of writing the council has not received a reply from DfT.
