West Winch access road plans set to move step closer at Norfolk County Council cabinet meeting next month
Plans for a major new road in West Norfolk are set to move another step forward next month.
Norfolk County Council’s cabinet members will be asked to give officers the authority to finalise and submit the planning application for the West Winch Housing Access Road at its meeting on Monday, December 4.
It is hoped the £84m scheme will help alleviate traffic on one of the county’s most congested roads while also allowing a bid to build 4,000 new homes in the village.
The county council is expected to submit the planning application by the end of the year.
Cllr Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport at Norfolk County Council said: “The planning application for the West Winch Housing Access Road will be a crucial milestone for the project.
“We know that residents want to see the road built as soon as possible and we are working hard, alongside the borough council, to deliver this project.”
Cllr Plant said the benefits of the road scheme were “clear”.
“It will be a boost for the local economy, support housing growth and provide an opportunity to solve long-standing traffic issues on the A10 through West Winch.”
The West Winch Housing Access Road will serve the West Winch Growth area which will see up to 4,000 new homes built over the next 20 years.
The proposed route connects the A10 to the A47 along a new 1.5-mile road, which would join the A47 via a new roundabout and the A47 would be dualled between Hardwick and the new road.
The county council recently submitted its latest business case to the Government, which would see a significant proportion of the £84.47m project costs met by the Department for Transport.
The authority says that the project has been assessed as “high value for money”, according to the Department for Transport’s criteria.
Developers will contribute £14.6m towards the cost of the road which is set out in the Infrastructure Delivery Plan.
Cllr Alex Kemp, who represents Clenchwarton and Lynn South on Norfolk County Council, said she had written to the Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper in support of the county council’s outline business case, asking the Government to grant its share of the funding.
"As the local county councillor, it is absolutely essential the West Winch Housing Access Road is delivered as soon as possible,” she said.
“This is vital to ensure any new development will be sustainable.
"The HGVs and heavy and constant through-traffic on the A10, have long been a blight on the lives of residents and need to be taken out of the village.
“We need to make the area safer for cyclists and pedestrians, to allow safe active travel and make the A10 the village road it should be."
The current project timeline would see construction of the road begin in 2025, taking around two years to complete – subject to planning permission and funding approval from the Department for Transport.
Members of the council’s cabinet will also be asked to approve further recommendations to allow the project to progress, alongside the recommendations relating to the scheme’s planning application.
These recommendations refer to Side Roads Order, procurement processes, land acquisition, and ongoing work with National Grid Gas and Homes England.
The cabinet will meet at 10am on Monday, December 4 to discuss the report.
People can watch the meeting, live or afterwards, and read the report at this link.
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