Hi
This is effectively the end of the NWL plan. To start again with a new route or plan, Norfolk CC would have to redo surveys, consultations - start everything from scratch. They just don't have the money to do that.
We should all be proud, this is the outcome of years of campaigning. So many efforts by so many.
Pictured above is our march that took place this time last year. Thanks to the hundreds who came out on that cold January day.
And to the keyboard warriors, and fundraisers and petition signers. Those who have SWL posters in their gardens. To the habitat surveyors and the ecologists. To all of you who have helped in every way big and small : THANKYOU!
It was the bats what done it....
This is a victory for nature. A rare occasion where it has been wildlife protection laws that stopped a road project.
Obviously there were many other flaws to this plan - cost, carbon, car dependence. But this is hopefully a case that shows that laws that protect our precious ecology are there to be followed, not circumvented when they are inconvenient.
There is
the small matter that Norfolk CC knew all about the bats at least 4 years ago so it never should have got this far but.....
Is it all over now?
We wish we could
say yes. But of course stopping this road project doesn't help those people living in villages suffering with traffic.
It won't stop the increase in traffic with car dependent housing, and A47 widening. The pressure to build a road will pop up again.
So we should breathe a sigh of relief. We should celebrate!
But then we should make sure that a proper plan B is created and implemented quickly. So people can start reaping the benefits asap, and spending money on destructive road projects can be
shown to be unnecessary. We need to make sure the 'need' for a road is removed.
Creating a Plan B
is possible - they have made a start on creating one in the
SW of England. We could do similar in our region.
If you haven't yet written to the Dept of Transport asking them to fund a Plan B, there is help with what to write below.
In addition to asking for a more positive solution to transport, there is also the protection of the Wensum Valley into the future to consider.
Protected status for the Wensum area?
Through this process, the Wensum Valley area has been studied in much more depth. From our citizen science habitat survey and the bioblitz. To the discovery of the Barbastelle supercolony, and rare species finds - we now know even better what a hidden jewel of Norfolk the Wensum Valley is.
It has all the features needed for a protected status. It would be wonderful if the legacy of this campaign against something negative could produce something positive - a protected area. Perhaps with an element of enhanced access so it can be appreciated as well as protected.
Watch this space!
The Stop the Wensum Link team
