By Cllr Greg Peck

The planned route of the Norwich Western Link road, which will link up the existing Norwich Northern Distributor Road (NDR – Broadland Northway) with the A47, runs entirely through my division (Reepham).

It is an issue that will affect my constituents more than others, particularly those living in Weston Longville, Ringland and Honingham.

I am working hard to make sure the route is tweaked to mitigate the impact on constituents by moving the route as far as possible from dwellings and putting restrictions on the surrounding minor road network in an attempt to keep the traffic, in particular heavy goods vehicles, on the new road and prevent them continuing to use these villages as “rat runs”.

There will be a final public consultation in the spring so affected residents will have one more opportunity to address any unresolved issues.

I would remind everyone that in the original public consultation there was hardly any support for the option to do nothing; there was a large majority for building the road and the route chosen was one of the two most popular chosen by the public.

The reasons for Norfolk County Council not choosing the marginally more popular route were mainly on environmental grounds and to avoid a large colony of barbastelle bats.

I am, however, receiving a lot of daily online attacks from members of a pressure group who want to stop the road being built. They have every right to do that, but I resent them questioning my conservation credentials.

When I retired from a career in international business I became chairman (unpaid) of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) for five years and was then chairman of CPRE Eastern Region for a further six years.

I spent 11 years defending the Norfolk and East Anglian countryside from inappropriate development. It is an issue I still feel passionately about and one which I continue to pursue.

My reason for wanting to get the Western Link completed is simple: not to build the road would be more damaging to the environment than building it.

The current situation in the villages around the end of the current NDR is that residents are suffering from the constant rat-running through these villages.

In rush hour, cars and trucks are constantly backing up and in static mode, letting other vehicles pass, so you can imagine the emissions from these vehicles compared with those emitted from a vehicle travelling for a few minutes on a three-mile stretch of dual carriageway.

Cllr Greg Peck, Norfolk County Council, Reepham Division
Tel: 07972 230282
Email: greg.peck.cllr@norfolk.gov.uk