Senior Shropshire Council officer in charge of North West Relief Road and Riverside project to leave the authority

The exit of Mark Barrow, the council's executive director of place, was explained to the authority's councillors in an email from Chief Executive, Andy Begley.

The surprise announcement says Mr Barrow will be 'stepping back' on December 6, and is taking voluntary redundancy.

Mr Barrow is in charge of a number of the council's biggest projects, including the controversial North West Relief Road, as well as the revamp of Shrewsbury's Riverside following the purchase of the town's shopping centres.

The Director of Place has also also been joint chairman of the River Severn Partnership - set up for councils affected by flooding from the river to find solutions.

In the wake of the announcement Shropshire Council's Conservative Leader, Councillor Lezley Picton, offered her thanks to Mr Barrow for his work.

She said: "We are grateful for Mark's contributions over the past six years, his record of achievements include overseeing the development of award-winning services and spearheading ground-breaking initiatives such as Cornovii Developments and the River Severn Partnership and we wish him well for the future."

In his message to councillors Mr Begley said that the departure is the "first stage" of reorganising the council's senior leadership team.

He thanked Mr Barrow for his "contributions and leadership", but there will be concerns from some quarters at the departure of the man in charge of the council's largest ongoing, and uncompleted projects.

Mr Begley said: "After thoughtful discussions and mutual agreement, we will be bidding farewell to Mark Barrow, who is taking voluntary redundancy.

"This is the first stage of the senior leadership team reorganisation and to enable this to move forward at pace, Mark will be stepping back from his current role from 6th December 2024. Transitional arrangements will be put in place and shared with you shortly."

He added: "Mark is determined to ensure a smooth transition and is focused on leaving behind a positive legacy for the organisation."

Reacting to the developments, Councillor Heather Kidd, joint leader of the authority's Liberal Democrat opposition, said: "The council must be in a real difficult position to lose a director who is responsible for some of the biggest spends and one of the most controversial decisions for the county, which is the North West Relief Road."