Norwich Western Link: City council votes to reject £198m bypass link road

A city council has voted not to support a controversial bypass link road.

The Norwich Western Link (NWL) would extend the Broadland Northway - or Northern Distributor Road (NDR) - by three miles (5km) by joining the A1067 Fakenham Road to the A47.

Norwich City Council's cabinet voted against the link, claiming it could promote car dependency.

Broadcaster Stephen Fry, who has a home in Norfolk, is one of 23 signatories to a letter opposing the link.

The county council said the road, which has government approval, could still go ahead.

Last January, Labour councillor Mike Stonard, cabinet member for inclusive and sustainable growth, called for convincing evidence the NWL was a "critical part of an environmentally progressive and deliverable transport strategy for the city".

These included air quality and decongestion benefits in the city; an investment package in public transport, cycling and walking in line with funding for the NWL; and evidence wildlife and landscape impacts could be mitigated.

The report, which went before the Labour-run authority's cabinet on Wednesday evening, said none had been fulfilled.

Mr Stonard said: "When the southern bypass was built for Norfolk we were in a completely different age.

"We now understand there's a climate crisis and we need to reduce dependency on the private car, so we need to find alternatives to that."

But Norfolk County councillor Martin Wilby, who is responsible for highways and transport, said this "key piece of infrastructure" could still go ahead and said the city council's decision was "premature".

"We've still got work to do, we're going to put our planning application in and our survey studies that we did in 2021.

"I would say all of the information that they're looking for will come forward at that stage."

Mr Wilby said the county had been working with the city council on improving access to public transport, walking, and cycling.

But, he said: "People from rural parts of the county go to Norwich to do their shopping, visit museums, restaurants and things like that, so we have to make it an attractive place for all."

The Stop The Wensum Link group which is campaigning to halt the project, cites environmental and economic arguments against it.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, their letter states: "The county is blighted by the construction of car-dependent homes which in turn fuel the need for more and more road building, a vicious circle which must be broken."

Weston Longville is one of the villages that has been supporting the link road.

The chair of Weston Longville Parish Council, Clare Morton, said the rejection to build was a blow.

Ms Morton said between 3,000 and 3,500 cars a day travel through the centre of the village along single-track road.

"Certainly public transport in rural Norfolk could be improved, but I think it's a shame that the city council has projected what they see in city areas onto a rural area, where we don't have the density of households who all want to go to the same place," she said.

Ms Moreton added a third of local traffic was trade and delivery vans, "and as e-commerce increases, that won't decrease and that won't be sorted out by public transport".

Conservative-controlled Norfolk County Council hopes the government will pay £168m towards the cost of the road.

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