Application Form Redacted

Support

Representation ID: 35

Received: 14/06/2024

Respondent: 61

It is getting harder to get from Taverham to costessy and the hospital as there have been so many road closures this year.
If the western link was completed it would make travel a lot easier and quicker.

Object

Representation ID: 36

Received: 14/06/2024

Respondent: 65

I strongly oppose this application
Not only is it going to cost an enormous amount of money for very little gain the irretrievable damage to the area is unthinkable.

Object

Representation ID: 37

Received: 14/06/2024

Respondent: 64

Permanent damage to the environment is not worth a shorter route. The local bat population is already suffering and this will only drive it lower as well as hurt many more of the beautiful species native to Norfolk.
Perhaps we should focus efforts on bettering the current routes available and implementing anti-flood measures there. I too have been negatively affected by flooding while trying to travel, but making more routes at such a massive cost will surely just lead us back to this issue eventually with a price tag of many animals’ lives.

Object

Representation ID: 38

Received: 14/06/2024

Respondent: 68

I object due to costs involved. I also object due to the impact on the bat colonies and wildlife

Support

Representation ID: 39

Received: 14/06/2024

Respondent: 67

We have been cut off from Costessey so many times this year due to flooding and road works the Western Link would have alleviated all this, trying to get to the hospital for appointments has been a nightmare.

Support

Representation ID: 40

Received: 14/06/2024

Respondent: 69

This road needs to be built, for the local people

Support

Representation ID: 41

Received: 14/06/2024

Respondent: 66

We need the Weston link completed. Taverham has become a major rat run resulting in more pollution. Wildlife on these rat runs are killed unnecessarily which the Weston link would help to prevent. Getting to the Hospital and A47 has been impossible without lengthy diversions adding to excess pollution. Bridges getting weakened not meant for heavy traffic. With more and more houses being built over Thorpe Marriot is only going to exasperate the situation..

Support

Representation ID: 42

Received: 14/06/2024

Respondent: 71

Build it

Object

Representation ID: 43

Received: 14/06/2024

Respondent: 72

This road is unnecessary. It will hardly save any time. It will lead to extra traffic and extra building along the route. It will be very detrimental to the environment and wildlife.

Support

Representation ID: 44

Received: 14/06/2024

Respondent: 73

Sick of having roads closed to access a47 and Easton get it built

Support

Representation ID: 45

Received: 15/06/2024

Respondent: 74

The western link must be built to alleviate the traffic and safety issues in and around costessey. I love bats but I also think that there comes a point in terms of sheer volume of traffic, that other less visible harms to peoples' quality of life outweigh the tenuous arguments and contested research into the bat population. Its only a matter of time before there is a pedestrian or vehicular fatality due to the completely unsuitable traffic rat running by hgv's trucks and trailers and large commercial vehicles. To be clear, the traffic types and volumes currently departing the NDR to get to longwater or norwich via costessey are completely incompatible with the road infrastructure. This type of traffic blight would be, and is, completely unacceptable in a developed country. You don't see this going on in Europe, where such problems were generally resolved decades ago. Norwich and Norfolk needs a joined up traffic management strategy and the Western link is ke to this. Get it done please.

Support

Representation ID: 46

Received: 15/06/2024

Respondent: 75

The Western Link will drastically cut travel times for traffic approaching Norwich from the west heading to areas north of Norwich and vice versa. It will stop rat running through Taverham and Weston Longville and provide a safer direct route for traffic. Whilst the environmental impact is regrettable, cutting journey times also cuts emissions. Also as vehicles are already on the network it won't "create more traffic" as I've heard others say. This route will save HGVs travelling around Norwich via the NDR and provide a direct route to their destinations. With the dualling of the A47 now underway, it makes perfect financial and logistical sense to construct a junction to connect it now, rather than in a few years time if this topic ever gets reopened. Norwich and Norfolk as a whole would greatly benefit from this route and I believe the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Support

Representation ID: 47

Received: 15/06/2024

Respondent: 77

We are very happy the nwl is being proposed it currently takes approximately 15 minutes to access the a47 and I would like to think this will be quicker once completed. At present when the weather is poor the current access routes to the a47 are not sufficient as they are frequently inaccessible.
The routes through were also not designed to be used by so many cars

Object

Representation ID: 48

Received: 15/06/2024

Respondent: 78

Number of people: 6

1. Road is destructive of the Ringland Hills and Wensum Valley floodplain.
2. There is already a perfectly adequate crossing of the Wensum at Attlebridge already used by HGVs, which connects with the NDR.
3. Damage to wildlife, including the nationally-important barbastelle bat colony of my woodland. The council has failed to make public its impact assessments and performed inadequate surveying of ecological impact.
4. There will be high-level 24 hour noise pollution of the hills, valley and neighbouring villages, and sump oil, tyre particulate and emission pollution to an unacceptable degree.
5. Water quality of the Wensum which is the drinking water supply for the City of Norwich will be affected by oil and tyre pollution. The mitigation measure (oil pollution ponds) are a joke because the pollution will soak into the underlying chalk and gravel and enter the groundwater and enter the river. The River Wensum is an extremely ecologically sensitive, vulnerable and precious chalk river of national and international significance, and deserves the very highest degree of respect and protection by local and national officials and politicians.
6. The visual impact of the road and viaduct on the valley floodplain represents permanent damage to an area of outstanding natural beauty. The Ringland Hills are a heritage site for Norwich and Norfolk, being the setting for the artworks of Sir Alfred Mundsley as displayed in the City Castle Museum.
7. The rat-running claims are spurious and exaggerated and can be mitigated by residents'-only signage. At peak hours, any problem is self-limiting, but I personally, as a regular user of local roads by foot, bicycle and vehicle do not recognise the alleged problem.
8. Existing dual carriageway runs from Harwich, via Norwich, to Cambridge, and to Birmingham and beyond. Claims advanced for the WLR as being necessary to "connect the county to the national road network" are simply false.
9. Such arguments as have been advanced by the proponents that the WLR will bring additional tourists to Norfolk are similarly false. They will come anyway, by the existing network, and come to visit a corner of our nation still, thankfully, relatively unblighted by high-speed roads. They come to celebrate and enjoy Norfolk. Do not traduce the very character of our county they come to enjoy.
10. Destruction of mature standing woodland is not acceptable against the background of national loss of woodland, and deleterious to air quality.
11. The development is inconsistent with national CO2 emissions policy.
12. The money is better spent on public transport, conservation and cycling routes. Such roads are inevitably built to the lowest standard, and the road will be a major barrier to local usage of existing roads by cyclists and pedestrians.
13. As a council tax payer, I protest against the expenditure of over £40m of council taxes on this project to date. There are already two ring roads around the City of Norwich - mostly four-lane. The intent of the WLR is transparently to create a third such ring road, which is unnecessary.
14. Encouraging vehicles to circumnavigate the City at higher speeds increases the noise and air pollution.
15. Council tax payers of Norwich and Norfolk were deliberately misled by officials by the misrepresentation of the Northern Relief Road as anything other than a section of a projected third ring road. That deliberate misleading continues, with the designation of this new projected road as a "link road" (similarly ludricously marketed by officials as the "Broadlands Expressway". I was present at a public meeting at the Norwich Institute of Directors on the NDR when the council representative, asked by an audience member about plans to bridge the Wensum in this way were expressly denied on behalf of the council. This kind of overt deception is unacceptable in public life and discourse. The Ringland Hills should be celebrated by public bodies of Norfolk as a jewel in the crown of county natural splendour, and not desecrated by the very officials charged with protecting such assets. Sir Alfred (above) saved the Stour at Dedham for the populace of Suffolk, and his love of the Ringland Hills ought to bne recognised and respected, and the Hills saved for the present and future people of Norfolk. Instead of figuratively trampling them beneath earthmovers, concrete and tarmac, the existing network of public footpaths could and should be developed by the council for the benefit of Norfolk people and visitors to our county alike.
16. Norfolk County Council has acquired tracts of land in the zone - an example being Rose Carr which floods annually when the Wensum floodplain fills and is in that way ecologically and physically connected to the River. Rose Carr will be functionally destroyed as it lies within yards only of the route, and below it. It will become a litter-strewn dumping ground as are (from national experience) the environs of all major roads. I simply cannot credit the cynical attitude of mind of county officials who acquire tracts of unspoiled natural land with the intention, not of custodianship, but to functionally destroy it.
17. While lowest on my reasons for objecting to the Western Link Road, (Redacted) woodland will be, similarly, functionally-destroyed for any purpose of leisure and amenity, (Redacted). (Redacted). But that is as nothing in comparison the loss to Norfolk from the consequences of this destructive project. It is time for Norfolk officials to stand up for conservation and climate responsibility, and cancel the WLR.
(redacted)

Support

Representation ID: 49

Received: 15/06/2024

Respondent: 79

The Western Link is required to join up Norwich. The DLR at the moment, fails to complete the infrastructure of a modern city. Whilst we should reduce car usage and promote public transport and bicycles as well as walking we have a major problem. The roads are not safe and public transport is unreliable. Large trucks, increased van deliveries are devastating all routes in and around Costessey. During the recent floods and roadworks it became more apparent of the incessant volume of traffic along Taverham Lane, West End and The Street. Drivers became enraged as they sped through the roads desperately trying to get from one side of Norwich to the other. After being leafleted and reading the research by UEA it was clear the researchers were biased against the development of the road. It is not yet clear how this research was either approved or funded. I believe we need a society that’s cares for people breathing, where people can walk safely where disabled people can cross the road without fear. Costessey is not that place. I never dreamt we would need more roads we need to discontinue the creation of ‘rat runs’ in around where families live. I cant imagine a modern city without an effective way of drawing the traffic out of urbanisations. Why do we allow it Norfolk?

Support

Representation ID: 50

Received: 15/06/2024

Respondent: 81

The western link is desperately needed to reduce rat runs, heavy goods vehicles, and pollution through Taverham, Drayton, Ringland and Costessey through roads and communities that are totally inappropriate. The western link would also reduce ambulance distances and time considerably for all residents in Broadland council area taking traffic off the ring road and potentially saving HUMAN lives. The existing rat runs are suffering incredible delays caused by regular flooding and damage, that’s probably caused by unsuitable vehicles using these routes. It is also essential for the economic growth and employment to the area around the north and west of Norwich.

Support

Representation ID: 51

Received: 15/06/2024

Respondent: 82

Enough of the continuing procrastinating inflating the cost of this road. It needs to be built to ease the rat runs through local villages. Too much nimbyism. We’re a rural location where car use is essential and road links need to be built and/or improved. What we don’t need however is housing in-fill!

Support

Representation ID: 52

Received: 15/06/2024

Respondent: 83

As a Taverham resident, I feel that we need NWL. Taverham has felt like an island most of this year with floods blocking many routes and roadworks blocking others. The amount of traffic that comes through Taverham has become dangerous and this road no doubt will relieve the problems.

Support

Representation ID: 53

Received: 15/06/2024

Respondent: 84

I travel regularly in the area of the A47 around to the NDR for my work and this link road is essential for now and the future. The small roads around the area are not suitable for the traffic that use them and the main route along Dereham road is congested already and will only get worse in the future.

Object

Representation ID: 54

Received: 15/06/2024

Respondent: 86

1. The NWL is an unecessary road, it will go through and destroy ancient woodland and habitats when a simple upgrade of exisiting road links would be a lot cheaper and less destructive. It is a vanity project for NCC.
2. The cost , which will be at least £274 million is a huge waste of tax payers money, which would be better spent on upgrading the exisiting transport links for Norfolk , such as having a decent public transport system.
3. The environmental damage is huge and irreversible. It would see the destruction of:
a)ancient woodland with oak trees which were saplings when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne
b)colonies of barbastrelle bats, now known to be the most imporptant breeding ground in the UK for this rare species
c)the ancient chalk stream , there are only about 200 chalk streams in the world, and Norfolk has most of the UK ones, the River Wensum being the most significant. The River Wensum is the most protected river in Europe, it has Special Scientific Interest Status and Special Are of Conservation Status, and NCC has itself selected it for special status. Why then would they build a road right through it which will risk damaging it ?
In their 2020 Environmenta Policy NCC write the following:
"The Natural Capital Evidence Compendium for Norfolk and Suffolk is a local assessment of the natural assets across the two counties and identifies risks to them, particularly in the context of climate change. It also recommends seven priority themes for action: Water; Land Management; Green House Gases; Carbon Sequestration; Habitats; Bio-security and Resilience."
The NWL is a risk to water, land management, green house gases and habitats.
It should not go ahead.

Support

Representation ID: 55

Received: 16/06/2024

Respondent: 88

The Western Link is essential to gain the maximum benefit from the Northern Distributor Road. It currently dumps traffic at the Fir Covert Road roundabout and if travelling to the south or west (A11, A47) this traffic has to travel via Costessey or Ringland. Both these routes have bridges with low weight limits and the roads are simply not designed to carry the volumes of traffic being forced upon them. Large goods vehicles are regularly getting stuck, especially on the Ringland route.

Emergency vehicles also use the Costessey & Ringland routes which poses problems for them plus other traffic. Beech Avenue has a reasonable size secondary school along it which also results in vehicles being parked in the road at least twice per day whilst picking up / dropping off children, creating additional hazards.

The current routes vehicles must take involves traversing many speed restricting humps with the consequent slowing down and speeding up of vehicles. This damages the environment and also wildlife far more than a thoughtfully planned Western Link which is essential for the current and future levels of planned housing.

I live along Beech Avenue in Taverham and witness daily the chaos caused by the omission of the final link between the NDR and A47. Wildlife has been considered in the draft report I have seen for the Western Link and the impact upon it mitigated to a very good degree.
In any event, any impacted wildlife will simply move to a nearby suitably appropriate site. It will have the benefit of a much cleaner environment than the oil / rubber polluted roads and carbon monoxide laden air that it currently contends with. Furthermore, if impacted wildlife is the reason for delaying the construction of the Western Link then I suggest we halt all road building and road construction across the entire country.

Finally, there is another type of animal severely impacted by the current lack of a Western Link - humans. These too can "move" but after many happy years in their chosen homes and environments and their inability to accommodate change as well as wildlife, why should it be necessary for them to move house? Any human divorced from the reality of the current road and traffic situation really has little substance to any comment / view which they may hold.

Object

Representation ID: 56

Received: 16/06/2024

Respondent: 89

There are so many reasons that this link should not be built. Firstly the cost - Norfolk tax payers will have to stump up at least £60 million towards this scheme (probably more since these sort of projects always go over budget). There is also significant environmental damage to consider over the Wensum valley. Although this is billed as a project to reduce rat running, it will significantly increase traffic travelling from Wymondham through Barnham Broom - the alternative that we have been given is to cut our village off from Wymondham completely. The journey time savings are not sufficient enough to justify the spending of all of this money. This is an awful scheme which should never have got to this stage in the planning process

Support

Representation ID: 57

Received: 16/06/2024

Respondent: 90

Norfolk County has done the sensible thing in building the NDR to connect the developments north of the city . More developments are planned . The weak link is to the west of Norwich where there is no sensible or practical crossing of the Wensum beyond the bridge at Sweet Brier. None of the existing roads and bridges are suitable for the traffic they are already experiencing so a new crossing is needed and the proposed Western Link project looks like a realistic solution. The proposed Western Link would also in effect complete a ring road around the City taking traffic away from the congested centre.
It is easy to object to new developments but in doing so protesters condemn those who live in the area exposed to the consequences of doing nothing. I have seen nothing that offers a practical alternative to take commercial and tourist through traffic across the river. Similarly I have seen nothing that offers a practical alternative for those living north of the City to travel west to the rest of the UK.
It would be great to see improvements in public transport to reduce the reliance on cars for local residents but they would have to be massive improvements on the current terrible service. Any attempt at cycling across the existing crossings of the Wensum are very risky due to the narrow bridges, no opponent of the scheme appears to have suggested any realistic improvements that would tempt people out of their cars. Public transport would not replace any commercial journeys either.

Object

Representation ID: 58

Received: 16/06/2024

Respondent: 92

The proposals will risk permanent damage to a unique ecosystem, the Wensum chalk stream. The proposal will increase traffic through Bell road by an estimated 1,000 vehicle per day including LGVs
The mitigation proposed would close the road through Carleton forehoe to locals travelling to Wymondham increasing the journey distance by several miles and forcing traffic to use a blind 3 way junction at skipping block corner, this will not reduce traffic through Bell road in any case.
There is also a proposed housing development on Bell road which will result in traffic being diverted pass the school to use spur road thus increasing the likelihood of accidents

Support

Representation ID: 59

Received: 16/06/2024

Respondent: 91

It is important in that this last part of the NDR is completed and to dual the A47 to improve the road system as more people are coming to live in the area and more houses are being built. There will be more cars , lorries on the roads so we must look to the future as well as today’s needs.

Support

Representation ID: 60

Received: 16/06/2024

Respondent: 93

This is the last part that needs building to complete the west side of Norwich, Costessey, Ringland, Weston longville all have unnecessary traffic going through them.
People are only opposing for the sake of it, non of them have to live with this traffic daily.
BUILD THE DAM ROAD AND RELIEVE THE TINY VILLAGES

Support

Representation ID: 61

Received: 16/06/2024

Respondent: 95

I am very much in favour of this new road. It will be excellent for Norwich and excellent for the residents of Taverham, Drayton and local areas.

Support

Representation ID: 62

Received: 16/06/2024

Respondent: 96

I write to give full support to the above planning application.

The proposal would bring an important link to the City's economy and transport as it continues to grow following the completion of the NDR. The link road will bring better commercial links for north Norwich opening routes from the A47 to the NDR. This is incredibly important considering the expansion of Taverham and developments that will be made along the NDR.

The link road is essential to people living in this part of the city as it grows and becomes congested. This has been seen recently with flooding and sinkholes blocking not-fit-for-purpose country lanes cutting people in Drayton, Taverham, and Thorpe Marriott off from important services such as NNUH.

Having grown up in Taverham and spent most of my career commuting from there on the A47, Ringland has never been fit for purpose with lorries and heavy traffic flow making use of the inadequate road. This is also seen at Lenwade with the road liable to flooding, congestion, and crashes.

The County Council has worked hard to limit the impact on the environment this project would cause and has gone above and beyond to show this. Despite the limited environmental impact, the benefits this road will bring vastly outweigh them.

As someone who has grown up and invested my life in this city, I am fed up of projects which are openly supported by the many, being blocked time and time again by the few who wish to limit Norwich's growth under the guise of protecting the environment.

Support

Representation ID: 63

Received: 16/06/2024

Respondent: 97

Living in Horsford, trying to get to the A47 westbound or trying to get to Longwater retail area and to Easton College which is a regular trip for us, is just getting more and more ridiculous. Going on the ring road around the outside of the city is just not an option at certain times of day as it’s just so congested the only option we have is to go through Taverham, past the mill which was impassable for much of the winter months due to flooding by the church or take our life in your hands going along the ring land road and confronting huge great Lorrie’s travelling along what in some parts is just not wide enough, let alone the potholes that I have encountered along there.I appreciate the desire to not disturb the wildlife and green space that will be impacted with the building of the new road, however I feel that there is no option as the amount of traffic travelling along Long water lane in Costessey and through Ringland Hills is unsustainable and a link through from our side of the city is a must.

Comment

Representation ID: 64

Received: 16/06/2024

Respondent: 98

I fully support the building of the Western Link. It will produce far less pollution than using the current roads, waiting in the inevitable increased traffic and the slowing down and speeding up to go over the speed bumps. If it's not built the traffic will still increase but it will have to use totally unsuitable roads to get to and from the A47. The Western link will save many people, businesses and emergency vehicles far more than an extra 5mins of their time. If Ringland Roads and the one past St. Edmunds church, Taverham plus Costessey Lane, are closed due to flooding etc. as they frequently are, then a very large amount of time and pollution, due to being stuck in traffic, is added to the journey. As things stand at present there is runoff from the roads into the local rivers, and huge disturbance to the local wild life in the hedgerows etc. due to the incredibly narrow roads between the A1067 and the A47.. The health and well being of humans also needs to be considered. The polluted air that is being produced due to increased traffic past residential areas, and schools etc. Humans are important too and I often think that they seem to be forgotten about. Of course mitigation should and will be put in place to do as little damage as possible to the Wensum Valley environment and wild life. I believe that we need to be realistic about the situation with regard to building the Western Link and the huge need for it.