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Why the Norwich Western Link is not the answer

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The campaign's full response to Norfolk County Council's pre-planning application consultation is here

COST

  1. Initial cost will be £250-£300 million.· 

  2. Ongoing upkeep will cost £1 million per year
    Is this a good use of money when we have crises in cost of living, energy, water, health and Social Care?

  3. No money left for long promised public transport upgrades which would reduce congestion and emissions.

Piles of coins inreasing in size
Night time traffic jam
TRAFFIC

  1. Backward Looking
    We need changes in lifestyle – encouraging use of public transport, cycling, walking, car sharing to tackle climate change, and reduce fossil fuel use

  2. There are better, cheaper solutions to traffic problems
    Improve B1535 and provide better bus services to protect the villages.

  3. Will increase noise and light pollution

  4. Will sever or divert rights of way

  5. If we believe the figures, the NWL and NDR will be VERY busy by 2041. 
    ​NCC is predicting that by 2041 there will be 36,500  vehicles on the NWL. That’s more than a fourfold increase on the NDR flow of 2019.  This may indicate that the NWL would be well-used, but it is difficult to believe; the A47 carried only 26,000 in 2019.  

  6. No significant advantage for Costessey
    Taverham Lane, the road leading to West End Costessey is predicted to lose just 14% of its traffic, at 7300.  In 2019 it only had 6300.   So Costessey will see an increase compared with the present.  We are not shown figures for Longwater Lane.  An increase is inevitable as the NWL will not be an attractive route for most users of this road.

Read more about "induced demand" - how new roads increase traffic

CARBON

  1. Carbon heavy construction
    Norfolk County Council estimates 100,000 tons of CO2 will be used to build the Norwich Western Link, partly due to the large concrete viaduct

  2. Usage will increase carbon emissions
    The Norwich Western Link will not reduce CO2 in line with Government projections and will increase carbon emissions and bust carbon targets.

Read more about the hidden carbon of new roads

Car exhaust with fumes
Barbastelle bat in flight
ECOLOGY

  1. Endangers the River Wensum  and endangered wildlife dependent on the river such as Water Vole, Desmoulin Whorl Snail, White Clawed Crayfish, Brook Lamprey, Norfolk Hawker dragonfly. The Wensum is one of only 210 chalk streams in the world - a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conversation. 

  2. Increases water pollution from road run off  including nitrogen deposition. The Environment Agency has stated that drinking water quality will be put at risk.

  3. Destroys very old woodland· and hedgerows. The road would cut through this network of wildlife corridors. Ancient trees and the biodiversity they support cannot be replaced by planting new saplings.  

  4. ·Destroys the habitat of Barbastelle bats - a Red Listed mammal. There is a rare super colony on the site – probably the largest in the country.

  5. :Impacts biodiversity·   
    The UK is already in the bottom 10% globally for biodiversity. Removing very old forest and risking the quality of the rare chalk stream can only make matters worse.

  6. ·Defaces a landscape already under threat from climate change. Will reduce access to quiet green spaces for walking, cycling, contemplating. Access to green spaces has been shown to have a measurable reduction on health service costs.

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