Consultation for West Winch road to open to public soon about plans for road connecting A10 and A47

A public consultation on a West Winch housing access road will launch in the next few days.

The consultation will give the public the chance to air their views before the planning application is finalised next year.

It starts on Monday and will be open for eight weeks, closing on January 8. It is part of the West Winch Growth plan, which aims to have 4,000 homes built in the next 20 years.

The road would connect the A10 to the A47 and also introduce dualling to the A47 between the Hardwick Interchange and the new access road, with a new signalised roundabout on the A47. Once completed, the new road will become part of the A10.

Three public events about the scheme will be held at West Winch Primary School on November 23, 4pm to 9pm; The Village Meeting Place, North Runcton on December 10, 10am to 4pm; and West Winch Primary School on January 4, 4pm to 9pm.

Once the consultation launches on Monday, information on the proposals will be available via the Norfolk County Council website where residents can also fill in an online questionnaire. Email and postal responses will also be accepted.

The council claims the road will address traffic problems by creating an alternative route around West Winch.

A councillor has urged his authority to ensure that the proposed new suburb of Lynn be built to the highest possible environmental standards.

Conservative Peter Gidney told West Norfolk Council members it was vital that the plans for up to 4,000 homes was fit for the future.

Mr Gidney, who represents West Winch, urged the authority to adopt a more active approach to ensuring that development across the borough is built sustainably, rather than relying on nationally-imposed guidelines.

“We’ve got to reach carbon zero by 2050, so it’s no good doing it incrementally, we should go for the maximum level of building regulation [as soon as possible],” he said.

The panel’s Tory chair, Judith Collingham, agreed: “What I’d like to see, is somehow, planning regulations and building regulations become more morphed together. Whatever the detail is… we can’t just have this as an aspiration. This has to go into law.”

She said cabinet member for the environment, Paul Kunes, would be made aware of the panel’s discussion.

Additional reporting by Noah Vickers, Local Democracy reporter.