Council to launch inquiry into £32m it spent on failed bypass

Shropshire Council will launch an inquiry to its scrapped North West Relief Road, after councillors finally voted to put the doomed project out of its misery.

The near twenty-year saga of Shrewsbury’s north-western bypass was brought to a close at a meeting of full council this week (25 February), councillors voting to scrap the ‘unaffordable’ scheme before a single metre of asphalt had been laid on the 5-mile long road.

But the decision to cancel came after more than £32m had already been spent on consultancy and enabling work, and Shropshire Council says it now plans to set up an inquiry into how projected costs more than doubled over the design phase of the project.

Responding to a question from a member of the public at a meeting of Shropshire Council earlier today, Cllr David Vasmer, the council’s highways portfolio holder, confirmed that the authority would set up a task and finish group to investigate the scheme’s failure.

“While the decision on the future of the North West Relief Road was still paused, it was not possible to announce an inquiry into the project,” he said.

“We will [now] consult with the Transformation and Improvement Scrutiny Committee about appointing a Task and Finish Group to investigate why so much money was spent, with the ability to call witnesses.”

Costs for the proposed project had ballooned from an initial estimate of around £71m, with the most recent estimates placing the final bill for tax payers in the county at closed to £160m – over twice the initial cost of the scheme.

The escalating cost of the road came as the council battled an existential financial crisis, the authority having declared a financial emergency last year which led to a £190m bailout loan being issued by central government this week.

Shrewsbury’s North West Relief road has been scrapped. Credit: Shropshire Council

Speaking ahead of the council decision to scrap the project, Cllr Vasmer said the capital cost of building the road would be a “millstone around the council’s neck” which would last for half a century.

“It has been the case for some time that this project is unaffordable, and it should have been cancelled before now. However that is now an option for this council after the previous one led by the Conservatives repeatedly ignored calls to face reality.”

During the debate on the motion to scrap the scheme, the council’s Labour group leader, Cllr Rosemary Dartnall, said the project had been a “tragedy” for the people of the county.

“Tens of millions of tax payer pounds have been wasted. We will never know the true cost of this project to the council and to the public in terms of officer time spent on an unaffordable road,” she said.

“The Department for Transport warning in the 2019 grant document made crystal clear that all council spending was at risk to the council – and what a risk that turned out to be.

“Those words turned out to be prophetic given this project looms large in the back story of Shropshire Council’s financial crisis. The single biggest price tag perhaps ever spent in Shropshire, with absolutely nothing to show for it.”

A task and finish group to investigate the North West Relief Road project will be set up shortly, scrutiny chair Cllr David Minnery told the meeting – although the scope and terms of the group will be set at a meeting in early April.

Reform UK councillor Mandy Duncan said the group needed to “restore trust” in the council’s decision making processes, saying the decision to scrap the scheme had been the result of “years of inadequate oversight and poor decision making” by previous administrations.

“I welcome the proposition for a task and finish group to include examination of commissioning and the management of design cost, but I would like assurance that this will be more than just marking our own homework,” she said.

“Given the scale of the financial mismanagement with millions already wasted, residents deserve complete transparency, including an explanation of how this happened, what failures in oversight occurred, and how the administration intends to restore public confidence in decision making.”