Claim new bat rules were 'rushed out' to halt road

A council leader has claimed government advisers deliberately “rushed out” new rules on bats to halt a major road scheme.

Norfolk County Council wants to build a 3.9-mile (6.3-km) road to connect the Northern Distributor Road, also known as Broadland Northway, with the A47 at Easton, to the west of Norwich.

But earlier this year, Natural England - the government’s adviser for the natural environment - changed rules protecting rare Barbastelle bats, which live on the route of the proposed £274m Norwich Western Link (NWL).

A Natural England spokesman said it had worked closely with the council for more than four years on the NWL and had consistently advised on its "significant concerns".

Kay Mason Billig, leader of the county council, said: “I think it [the new guidance] was rushed out because of the scheme we had on the table.”

Norfolk County Council said officers had been working with Natural England to discuss possible measures to mitigate any potential harm to the rare bats.

But shortly before the county council was due to submit its planning application for the scheme in March, Natural England published new guidance which placed "favourable conservation status" on the species.

This meant the council would be highly unlikely to receive the licence needed to build the road.

At a cabinet meeting on Monday, Mason Billing, a Conservative councillor, said she believed the new guidance had been deliberately published to affect the application for the NWL.

“I feel like we've been stitched up quite honestly,” she said.

“I said in March the timing of this stinks and I think I have been proved right quite honestly. It’s a crazy situation.”

At the cabinet meeting, members heard the council had submitted a Freedom of Information request to Natural England.

The authority wanted to understand whether there was any link between its draft bat licence application and the updated guidance for barbastelle bats.

A report said the response it received from Natural England included a document which said: “The publication is timely due to casework in Norfolk; we wanted to publish this before we received a planning application.

“We were delayed waiting for a relevant paper to be published.”

Mason Billig said: “It sounds like they [Natural England] were determined that they weren't going to allow us to build this road.

“If they had never got any intention of giving us a licence, why did they lead us down the garden path?”

Mason Billig has now written to the government, asking it to intervene on behalf of the authority.

Her letter asked the government if it would still provide funding for a "potential alternative" project - or compensation - if the NWL got cancelled.

A report said the cost of work so far would reach £56m by April.

The previous Conservative government had promised £213m towards the road.

But Labour is currently reviewing all spending commitments and has already cancelled the £50m Vauxhall Roundabout upgrade planned for Great Yarmouth.

At a meeting on Monday, the county council’s cabinet agreed to reduce spending "by reducing or pausing activity on the project" until an announcement on funding was made.

A decision is expected to be announced in the government's spending review planned for the spring.

The spokesman for Natural England added: "Decisions to grant or deny planning applications are ultimately matters for local authorities.

“We cannot see how the proposed road would not destroy the bats’ habitat even if there was mitigation in place, so we have objected to this planning application, which will also risk harm to important wildlife sites.”

Brian Watkins, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group, said: "The county council seems to be making Natural England a scape goat for the issue in regard to the road.

"Whatever we may think of Natural England, they are a pressure group and they have a right to have a view on it."

Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group, said: "This is an extraordinarily myopic, self-righteous rewriting of history.

"The Conservative administration have created this problem and are desperate to convince others they are not guilty.

"How many times have we called for a Plan B and been ignored? Blaming Natural England won't wash."

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