Relief road to take 25 years to be carbon neutral

It could take another 25 years for Shrewsbury's controversial North West Relief Road (NWRR) to become carbon neutral.

Shropshire Council said offsetting the scheme's impact by 2030 was now "considered impossible" ahead of a committee meeting on Tuesday.

The latest methods for estimating the impact of the project have seen the expected carbon cost more than double – from 26,711 tonnes of carbon to 55,904.

Because of this, the council has asked for a condition to be revised so that it has until 2050 to offset the road's emissions.

According to the council, the NWRR is the missing link in Shrewsbury's transport network, and is designed to address traffic congestion and open up new opportunities for businesses.

Planning permission was granted in October 2023, but the project has been met with various delays.

As well as the increase in carbon emissions, the cost to build the road is now estimated to be £171m – more than double the projected £87.1m that was reported in 2019.

Shropshire Council has committed to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Case officer Mike Davies said: "The process adopted will ensure the scheme's impact is offset by 2050 at the latest.

"It is therefore important to flag up that this raises a conflict between the council's stated objective of being carbon neutral by 2030 and the applicant's goal of offsetting the impact of the scheme by 2050.

"It is considered that this is a material consideration that needs to be considered."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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