NORTH Shropshire's MP has been urged to reconsider her position and support of the controversial North West Relief Road (NWWR) by a potential future opponent.

Dean Carroll, who is a Shropshire councillor and is expected to compete to return North Shropshire to the Conservatives in 2024, made the call on Wednesday, March 29.

The NWWR has been supported and opposed across Shropshire, with Mr Carroll supporting.

But is considered a controversial move that will cost more than budgeted and will impact on the rural area around it.

And he says he is concerned that opposition from the Liberal Democrat MP is threatening to derail the NWRR and, in his view, ‘harm the interests of North Shropshire residents’.

He said: “Residents of North Shropshire have long suffered from heavy traffic congestion and unsafe roads, leading to noise, air and visual pollution in communities such as Baschurch and Ruyton XI Towns.

“The NWWR has been proposed as a solution to these problems, and the Department for Transport and Shropshire Council has already committed funding for the project.

“The NWRR would significantly reduce traffic on B-roads in North Shropshire, which would benefit schoolchildren and residents who are currently at risk from heavy goods vehicles that squeeze down narrow roads.

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“The relief road would prevent drivers from attempting to cut corners around the A5 near Shrewsbury, which poses a danger to motorists and pedestrians alike.

“It would be a huge benefit for many North Shropshire residents who have long suffered from traffic congestion, unsafe roads, and environmental pollution.

“We are now awaiting planning permission.

“I urge the Liberal Democrat MP to support this much-needed project for the good of these communities and the quality of life of local people."

Mrs Morgan, who succeeded Owen Paterson in a by-election in 2021, has been a long-term opponent of the scheme.

She has previously said that she has wanted to see the money on individual market towns rather than on the relief road, and believes that it would ‘worsen’ traffic, rather than improve it.

In a letter sent to a constituent in 2022, she also warned of the possibility of taxpayers having to pick up any over-spend burden and again, reaffirmed her call for investment in market towns such as Oswestry.

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