LEADING Shropshire councillors in Oswestry have called on the authority to 'not let us down' and change the design of a bridge crossing on the A5.

Shropshire Council last week rejected a motion from Councillor Duncan Kerr to reconsider the design of a bridge over the A5 linking the town and proposed innovation park.

Cllr Kerr's motion informed the council that cyclists using the bridge would be expected to dismount a various stages.

He was joined by fellow Green Party councillor Mike Isherwood in condemning the bridge design, which has been opposed by groups such as Future Oswestry.

Both are also Oswestry town councillors and the pair were joined in their opposition to the design by their colleagues, with Cllr Isherwood urging Shropshire to re-think the design.

"Shropshire Council is once again letting us down, but, as far as we’re concerned, this ugly bridge is not a done deal," he said.

"It is not built, so we can avoid wasting millions of pounds on this symbol of failure and backwardness.

"In 2022, infrastructure of this type should be built for the future, yet the Future Oswestry Group was not even consulted on the designs. Unbelievably, it fails to meet Shropshire Council's own standards for active travel infrastructure (LTN 1/20).

"The Department for Transport recently wrote to local authorities stating that future funding for active travel schemes will depend on councils complying with LTN 1/20 across the board, not just on individual projects.

"Disregard for LTN 1/20 could result in Oswestry losing out on vital infrastructure funding in the future. It also matters for us, the users of the bridge.

"It will be the only route connecting the new jobs at the innovation park to the housing where much of the workforce will live.

"Members shared Cllr Kerr’s and my disappointment that Shropshire Council rejected a motion calling for a redesign so that Oswestry gets a modern bridge which meets the needs of everyone in our community."

However, Ed Potter, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for economic growth, regeneration and planning, said that the bridge had passed all design stages without opposition.

He said: "The bridge has gone through a rigorous planning process, achieved approval by Shropshire Council as the technical approval authority, and design/check certificates have been approved and signed off.

"The council has already spent circa £1m on securing the steel and vesting the material.

"Revisiting the design at this stage will mean significant delays and will incur substantial additional fees.

"It will seriously affect the programme, impact on funding conditions, output delivery and ultimately may make the whole project – including the interlined Oswestry Innovation Park – unviable.

"The opportunity for querying the design of the bridge was during the planning process but this has since been determined and the design is fixed."