New Western Link route 'foolish and short-sighted'

Building a controversial road project to link major routes around Norwich would be "foolish and short-sighted", it has been claimed.

Plans to create the Western Link bypass connecting the A1270 Broadland Northway to the A47 were withdrawn last year but Norfolk County Council is now considering an alternative route.

Ruth Horton, a parish councillor in Weston Longville, near Norwich, warned that the new proposed route would have a "massive impact" on the village.

Tom Dickerson, Reform UK cabinet member for highways and transport at the county council, said: "We need to see what the outcome of the options assessment work is before we can draw any conclusions about this."

The Western Link has been discussed in various forms for more than a decade.

Planning permission for the original route was withdrawn by Norfolk County Council in 2025 following concerns over its impact on protected bats.

Under those initial proposals, a dual carriageway would have crossed the River Wensum before connecting to the A47.

Government advisory body Natural England had objected, warning the road would "destroy" a population of "incredibly rare" Barbastelle bats.

Before dropping its original plans for the 3.9-mile (6.2km) link road, the council had already spent £56m on the project, with central government providing £33m.

A council spokesperson said new surveys for bats were about to begin and that early assessment work suggested the route was "likely to need to make use of the existing crossing" of the Wensum at Attlebridge, pushing it further west.

He said the road "looks like it's going to have to be a single carriageway" due to the "bat problem", adding that the route would now join the A47 at Wood Lane, Honingham.

Dickerson said officials were currently working towards a 2029 start date for a revised scheme.

Horton, who has lived in Weston Longville, close to the proposed junction, since 2016, urged the authority to look at the wider picture.

She warned residents would be "blighted by the noise, the dust and the disruption caused by that road".

"I think it would be foolish and short-sighted to spend another fortune on the development of a road which, at the very best, is going to be a short-term, half-hearted, inadequate solution," she said.

Dickerson responded: "Let me reassure everyone, I'm only interested in providing a solution that is effective and provides good value-for-money."

Dave Thomas, a Liberal Democrat county councillor for the area, said: "Knowing the impact traffic has for villages around the Wensum valley, there does need to a solution but I am waiting to see what the options are going to be."

He said people were growing "frustrated" as attempts to find a solution had "dragged on for so long".

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