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==History==
Shropshire County Council had first announced plans for a bypass at Bridgnorth in around 1937, although by the 1960s no decision had been reached. In response to BR’s application on 1 February 1968 for the first Light Railway Order, the Council objected on the grounds that it would add a further £60,000 to the cost of the bypass, were they to build it (for context, the SVR were negotiating with BR to but buy the first section of the line for £25,000 at the time). As the result of pressure from the Minister of Transport in [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 1965-1969#1969|June 1969]], the [[Severn Valley Railway Company Limited|Severn Valley Railway Company]] was advised to enter into an agreement with Shropshire County Council so that if and when the proposed bypass was authorised by the Department of the Environment, the SVR would dedicate the necessary land required by the Council to build the road, and thus sever the permanent way south of Bridgnorth. The SVR would then have to build, at its own expense, a very substantial bridge to maintain the rail link to Bridgnorth. The Agreement was dated 25 February 1970,<ref>SVR News 13, July 1969, pp. 7-8, SVR News 19 Spring 1970, p. 4.</ref> following which the SVR opened in May 1970.
The prospectus for the floatation of [[SVR(H)]] issued on 11 April 1972 proposed a further [[Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC#Share_offers|issue of shares]] to fund the bypass bridge, "''provided that these proposals were not impracticable, i.e. not too expensive''". However by late 1972, with the bypass becoming a realistic prospect, concerns were mounting that [[Sir Gerald Nabarro]] could use this as a reason to abandon Bridgnorth. At the [[Guarantee Company]] Annual General Meeting on 3 November 1972, a resolution was unanimously passed that no final decision should be made on the provision of the bypass bridge without the prior approval of the Guarantee Company (as holder of 26 per cent of the issued share capital of the Holdings Company, which owned the line and which would have to raise the money to build a bridge over the new bypass).
