Ring road costs set at £215m as budget talks loom

The cost of completing a ring road around Shrewsbury has been calculated at £215m, Shropshire Council has revealed.

The authority set out the costs of the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road (NWRR) ahead of next week's budget meeting, and the implications of continuing with it, or cancelling.

Council chiefs said the government or the council could cancel, but whoever did so would become liable for £39m of money already spent.

Councillors have heard building the road would add £6m annually to day-to-day spending because of borrowing costs, but it would be better than cancelling.

James Walton, Shropshire Council's top finance officer, said from a purely financial point of view, "it would be better to build it."

Councillor Gwilym Butler, cabinet lead for finance, said: "It is vital that councillors fully understand, and carefully consider the implications of the various possible outcomes."

It comes as the council heads towards local elections in May and council leader Lezley Picton denied that the move to release the figures was a political decision.

She said she remained committed to the scheme and this was the year when final decisions had to be made. Picton said she believed the scheme aligned with the government's growth agenda.

If the Tories lost control of the council in May, any new political leadership would face the same issues, she added.

Three opposition parties have said they will scrap the scheme if they win in May, it was revealed earlier this month.

By Robert Trigg, BBC political reporter, Shropshire

The Conservative-run authority is desperate to have this road built.

It is clutching on to a promise from the previous government that the NWRR would be fully-funded using money from the second leg of HS2 being cancelled.

But there is every chance that the new Labour administration withdraws the offer and leaves the project with a huge funding hole.

Finances at Shropshire Council are already stretched and borrowing tens of millions of pounds would put considerable pressure on its day-to-day spending account.

However, cancelling the road could also lead to debt repayments as the £39m spent so far on the NWRR would need to be met by the council.

There is every chance that will happen with all major groups on the council promising to scrap the project if they win at May's election.

The funding for this road, and its very existence, remain on a knife's edge.

The NWRR comprises two road schemes, the Oxon Link Road and the North West Relief Road.

It is the largest infrastructure scheme ever undertaken by Shropshire Council.

One of the options is to progress with the Oxon Link Road and cancel the relief road, but that move was estimated to come with a further £46m costs and £32m sunk costs, with a total liability of £78m.

Planning permission for the overall NWRR scheme was given in 2023, subject to agreements between the council and a developer.

Once that is in place, a business case can go to full council and then, if approved, the Department for Transport.

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