Latest news with #NorwichWesternLink
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Norwich Western Link: Calls for help with roads 'nightmare'
The need to end a rat-run "nightmare" has been emphasised by rural residents as a council attempts to kick-start a stalled road County Council had to scrap plans in January for the £274m Norwich Western Link project due to Natural England's concerns about the impact on rare funding has now been secured to work on new options for the long-discussed road and the authority's highways chief, Graham Plant, is hopeful the project can be residents affected by the road not being built say the need is urgent, as "gridlocked" narrow roads regularly lead to "shouting and swearing". The 3.9-mile (6.2km) Western Link would have connected the Northern Distributor Road (NDR) to the A47 and effectively complete a circular dual-carriageway route around NDR opened to traffic in April 2018, but some residents of villages including Ringland and Weston Longville regularly report frustrations with traffic and Jane are housemates living near Ringland who are desperate for a solution."A nightmare," Dom said of the congestion. "You get people here, queues back, shouting and swearing, littering – I mean chucking bags out, alcohol cans."It's always been quite busy but lately it has got gridlocked."Jane added: "If you come out of your drive, they don't let you out, and if you think a car isn't coming and go, a car will come whizzing down and beep us - there will be a shouting match and you don't need it. That's every day."The traffic here gets more built up with traffic and lorries, that shouldn't come down here anyway, but they do and get stuck, every day." The county council is looking at a potential single carriageway option and minor changes are also being considered such as improvements to current Plant, the Conservative-controlled council's cabinet member for highways, told BBC Radio Norfolk: "The area to the west of Norwich has huge traffic congestion and queuing on local roads, which is projected to worsen due to planned housing and employment growth."There are delays to journeys to key sites, such as the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the University of East Anglia."It's stifling business growth and profitability [through] unreliable journey times and limited access to markets and recruitment. "There's poor air quality near to where people live due to the volume of traffic and the road safety issues due to the volume of traffic, including inappropriate roads with tight bends."It of course reduces their opportunity to walk and cycle between communities, so it needs a very strong response to that."Mr Plant also pledged to work with Natural England to "circumnavigate" the bat issues. To build or not to build? BBC Radio Norfolk's Andrew Turner spoke to locals as they cooled off in the River Wensum next to Ringland bridge, one of the pinch points that leads to queuing Rodrigues, 59, from Felthorpe, visits to kayak with his grandchildren and is in favour of a Western Link said: "The traffic has always been a problem. It's possibly got worse but this road isn't fit or designed for the volume of traffic it has."So I personally think it is a good idea."Debbie Dawson, 48, from Fakenham, hopes the project will not be revived. "I don't like any roads going through anything, there's too many already," she said."We were talking about that at the Norfolk Show because we live on a farm, we live in the middle of nowhere and we're surrounded by fields, which is pretty much how I like it."Firmly in favour though was Emily Mayes, 41, who lives nearby in Drayton. "I work in Hethersett so have to drive through these ways every day and the traffic is just getting worse and worse," she said."The current situation is probably making the situation for wildlife and local people a lot worse."Similarly in no doubt was 82-year-old Barry Longhurst, who lives close by in Taverham. He said: "What comes first, humans or bats? I believe that humans should come first and the amount of building work that's going on, there's no improvement to the roads, there should be."The Western link will be a help not only for the locals but to those new residents as well." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
New Norwich Western Link plans being proposed after bat concerns
Plans to build a new road to ease congestion near Norwich could be back on the table after initially being withdrawn because of concerns about its impact on 3.9-mile (6.2-km) Norwich Western Link, connecting the Northern Distributor Road (NDR) to the A47, had been in the works for years before being scrapped in County Council admitted a dual carriageway or viaduct over the River Wensum was unlikely due to the eco-restrictions, but said a single carriageway could be an Plant, a Conservative cabinet member, said they hoped to work closely with Natural England to mitigate the risk of previous issues with protected bats. Norfolk County Council had been seeking approval from the government to build the £274m Norwich Western Link, but last year the project's future was thrown into doubt after Natural England changed rules protecting rare Barbastelle bats that lived on the route of the proposed Marshall, Natural England's deputy director for Norfolk and Suffolk, said his organisation was "clear that development and nature can go hand in hand".But he said Barbastelle bats were "incredibly rare" and that the proposed route "would destroy one of the largest remaining populations in the UK".The county council is now considering whether a single carriageway option might solve congestion issues, the Local Democracy Reporting Service is also considering making minor improvements to the existing road network, public transport and improvements for walking and cycling and making changes to the existing B-road between Wood Lane and Lenwade. Plant, the cabinet member for transport, said the council believed a new road was still the best solution to improve issues in villages west of Norwich."We have been, and are continuing to, implement some smaller-scale measures which may provide some relief to affected communities."However, a larger-scale intervention is still needed through our Norwich Western Link project in order to improve the situation significantly."The council estimated it would cost £1.66m to appraise the various options, which would include a public consultation before being presented to cabinet members next Department for Transport had agreed to contribute £960,000 toward the development costs. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Council back to drawing board over failed Norwich link road
A council which spent £56m on a failed road project will be going back to the drawing board to try and find an alternative County Council had to withdraw its plans for the controversial Norwich Western Link road earlier this year because of concerns about its impact on rare Plant, the Conservative councillor responsible for transport, said the authority was now "looking at alternative options" and aimed to have a preferred choice by next of the Labour group, Steve Morphew, said a "plan B" should already have been in place and he could not "think of another example of a scheme so badly handled". The 3.9-mile (6.2km) link road was due to connect the Northern Distributor Road to the A47 west of the city, and had been in the works for aim was to ease congestion and reduce rat-running through after government advisers Natural England changed the rules protecting rare barbastelle bats, the council withdrew its planning council said it planned to spend £1.43m on exploring different options for the Western Link, with just under £1m of the funding expected to come from the Department for Transport (DfT).However, a DfT spokesman said "no decisions have yet been made" on funding, and they would "provide updates on specific schemes in due course." Plant, who insisted that drawing up a full-formed alternative earlier would have been too expensive, said he was "as confident as you can be" that a solution could be found."We'll be going back through previous options that we looked at – about 80 of them – but we'll be looking at new options as well."The council admitted a dual carriageway over the River Wensum was unlikely because of the eco-restrictions, but said a single carriageway could be an on developing the Western Link has already cost £56m, with £33m provided by the said the money had been "wasted".'I can't think of another example of a scheme so badly handled," he added."I wouldn't trust this Conservative administration to sweep the roads, let alone have another go at building one." Liberal Democrat leader Brian Watkins said it was "no surprise that the Western Link in its original form is dead".He added: "The Conservatives must take full responsibility for the wasted money and time which has been pumped into this doomed project."The council said it would run a consultation on alternative proposals for the Western Link and intended to confirm its preferred option by next summer. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
05-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Norfolk council 'wasted resources' on Norwich Western Link road
Norfolk County Council "wasted valuable resources" with its plans for a £274m link road, a government minister has of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood also accused the authority of "failing its constituents" over the Norwich Western Link (NWL), after it withdrew its planning application for the council did that as it had little hope of permission being given because of rules from Natural England protecting Barbastelle Plant, the Conservative councillor responsible for transport, said he thought the minister "may have been misinformed". The council has spent £56m on the project and Greenwood's comments came in a letter sent to senior Labour figures in the withdrawal of the planning application, she wrote: "It is clear to me that Norfolk County Council have failed your constituents, wasted valuable resources and left local residents vulnerable to rat-running." The comments suggest the chances of the road ever being built are low, but Plant said the council still hoped to "achieve a good outcome for Norfolk related to the Norwich Western Link".In response to the minister's letter, he said the council was still "working closely" with the government on an alternative solution but he thought she "may have been misinformed":"I would be happy to meet with her to explain the situation and the enormous amount of hard work that has gone into developing this important infrastructure project," he council did receive better news earlier this week, with the government confirming it will not ask for £33m which it provided for the NWL to be repaid.A Department for Transport spokesperson said it was "committed to improving transport across Norwich to power local growth, jobs and opportunity". Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
04-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
DfT 'will not ask' for £33m Norwich link road funds
The government "will not ask" for the return of £33m funding it granted towards a £274m road plan which has since dropped, according to a council. Norfolk County Council withdrew its planning application for the Norwich Western Link in January, because of concerns about its impact on rare Conservative-run authority has spent £56m on the project near Norwich, which included the government funds. Opposition groups warned this could leave it with a large hole in its Plant, cabinet member for transport, said the council had now had "really constructive" discussions with the Department for Transport (DfT), which has been approached for comment by the BBC. The 3.9-mile (6.2km) Norwich Western Link would connect the Northern Distributor Road to the A47 west of the city, and had been in the works for years."There is a mutual commitment to continue to work together to tackle the growing transport and traffic problems to the west of Norwich, which are projected to worsen with planned housing and employment growth in and around the city," said Plant."As a result of these discussions, DfT have confirmed that they will not ask for the £33m they have already committed to the project to be returned."The council said the Western Link would have cut traffic congestion, reduce journey times and improve air quality in new Natural England rules protecting rare barbastelle bats meant a licence was unlikely to be millions of pounds had already been spent on the project, including buying land, as well as staff and consultants' said discussions with the DfT continued and the council hoped "to be able to provide a further update on the outcome of these discussions shortly, including regarding the future of the project and the next steps". Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
