The beginning of the end?

Published: Sun, 11/24/24

Updated: Sun, 11/24/24

See below for a quick action you can take to get the NWL stopped for good!

Finally a whiff of reality has arrived in Norfolk! The Norwich Western Link project has been put on hold .

It seems Norfolk CC has got some legal advice. Natural England won't grant a licence to damage Barbastelle bat habitat. There is no realistic way round the damage. And so a planning application won't be approved.

" It is also advised that there is no prospect of a successful legal challenge over NE’s response to the planning application consultation.’

So even Norfolk CC has had to concede that this is the probably the end. However, they won't actually stop permanently and sort out a Plan B until they are forced to.

They also continue to spin a story that the rules on the bats were changed at the last minute, and this is all Natural England's fault.

So let's be clear:

They knew that the bats were all over the Wensum Valley, BEFORE drawing up the plans. .

They always knew that the bats were legally protected. Nothing has changed about that.

We have documentary evidence that shows what they knew at what stage. There was no 'last minute intervention' by Natural England.

Norfolk CC want the money for a Plan B

NCC are now asking for the £213 million for 'alternatives'. While at the same time expressing reluctance to actually have to do it.

Wouldn't it be great if they had a costed Plan B ready to go, as we've been suggesting for the last 5 years? They have wasted £50 million on a doomed project, and many more years where we could have started tackling traffic in long term ways.

Asking for the full money as 'compensation' is completely unreasonable, as the refusal of a licence by Natural England was entirely predictable. We don't want Norfolk to miss out because of the council's lack of planning though - so let's make sure we get something - make sure you ask in the action below!

The Decision is now in the Government's hands

There should be a decision on the NWL in the New Year. The Prime Minister has said that the views of thousands of people who took part in a public consultation should be listened to. So let's remind MPs of what the vast majority think.

Can you write to the government decision makers?

Help to do this below.

Hopefully this will be the last action we have to ask of you: so please make the effort. Thankyou!

The Stop the Wensum Link team

ACTION: Let's stop the NWL once and for all!

Write to your MP (search with your postcode)

AND cc steve.reed.mp@parliament.uk and louise.haigh.mp@parliament.uk

Try to write in your own words, but here is something you can cut and paste:

Make sure you include your name and address

Please ensure the UK does NOT fund the Norwich Western Link road. The Norwich Western Link road (NWL) is unaffordable both locally and nationally. Paying the local share would put Norfolk County Council (NCC) in a financially precarious position.

The destruction of Barbastelle bat habitat cannot be avoided due to their extensive presence over the whole area. Tweaks to the route or design cannot help, and there are no proven mitigation measures, so Natural England is highly unlikely to issue a licence.

NCC have been aware that that this is the case from the project's inception. A major report was issued and shared with NCC in 2010. Since then, both local experts and wildlife organisations repeatedly told NCC about the threat to the bats.

Natural England is just doing their job of upholding wildlife law. It has not, as NCC claim, made any 'last minute intervention'.

Public opposition is fierce on environmental, ecological and cost grounds.

Of nearly 5000 responses to the recent consultation on the NWL road, over 4,600 were objections. A petition against the road gathered over 18,000 signatures. Over 300 people gathered in Norwich to march against the road in January 2024.

Norfolk County Council is now asking for monies to fund alternatives to a road. It is outrageous that a Plan B of a selection of alternative measures of public and active transport and traffic control have not been put together before.

A regional, coordinated plan to tackle traffic sustainably needs to be funded, so that local people do not suffer due to the decision to pursue a road over all other possible solutions for so many years. UK government could fund and encourage a move to sustainable, affordable transport over all of Norfolk, or even region wide, for less than the £213 million that this one road would cost to UK taxpayers.

if you can - put that you have written to the government on social media to encourage others to do so too!

Thankyou!!

9/11 Lower Goat Lane
Norwich Norfolk NR2 1EL
UNITED KINGDOM

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