XR Shrewsbury to stage 'chainsaw massacre' protest at relief road planning meeting
Activists say the proposals will risk drinking water in the area.
Extinction Rebellion Shrewsbury is calling on Shropshire Council to ‘Stop The Shropshire Chainsaw Massacre’ in a protest outside Shirehall as the North West Relief Road (NWRR) goes to planning.
The NNWR is a proposed single-carriageway that will link the northern and western parts of Shrewsbury. It will include a new bridge over the River Severn and its flood plain, and a new bridge over the Shrewsbury-Chester railway line.
Today's protest, which will be held outside the Northern Planning Committee meeting at Shirehall, will feature a ‘chainsaw maniac’ in a Halloween costume attacking the iconic 550-year-old Darwin Oak.
Protesters will also hand out bottles of contaminated ‘Relief Road Water’ to councillors as they enter the meeting to highlight the risk the road poses to Shrewsbury’s drinking water supply.
Jamie Russell from Extinction Rebellion Shrewsbury says: "The North West Relief Road is an environmentally-destructive nightmare, so it’s fitting the planning meeting is on Halloween. If this road gets the go-ahead, Shropshire Tories will be committing an unforgivable Shropshire chainsaw massacre.
"We will lose 4km of biodiverse hedgerows; over ten hectares of vital agricultural land; and over a thousand trees including several “irreplaceable” veterans like the 550-year-old Darwin Oak. This is the tree that the world’s most famous naturalist, Charles Darwin, sat under as a young man. There is no way to justify this in the midst of a climate and ecological emergency. Darwin must be spinning in his grave."
Other organisations that formally object to the NWRR include the Woodland Trust, Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth, the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, and even the council’s own Ecology and Tree Teams.
Campaigners argue that the NWRR runs counter to the council’s own climate emergency declaration in 2019 and the UK’s legally binding net zero pledges. The NWRR will create 48,000 tonnes of embedded carbon emissions from its construction, for an estimated annual operational ‘saving’ of 359 tonnes – meaning it won’t be carbon neutral for over 130 years. The NWRR also conflicts with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which seeks to protect ancient trees from destruction.
Jamie Russell says: "Shropshire Council is ignoring its own climate emergency declaration to build the NWRR. Every opposition party on the council has rejected the road because they know it is the wrong solution for the climate, nature, and Shrewsbury’s traffic problems. Only the Conservatives want it built. If the MP for Shrewsbury believes the NWRR is vital for the town, we call on him to be the one to take a chainsaw to the Darwin Oak. This is our Sycamore Gap moment. If we lose these trees, they are gone forever."