West Winch access road plans set to be submitted after Norfolk County Council’s cabinet agree to finalise application

Plans for a major new road in West Norfolk which is expected to bring “relief” to the A10 have moved another step forward.

Norfolk County Council’s cabinet agreed to give officers the authority to finalise and submit the planning application for the West Winch Housing Access Road at its meeting on Monday.

It is hoped that 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 to go ahead.

The county council is expected to submit the application by the end of the year.

Cllr Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport at Norfolk County Council, told the meeting that the access road is a “significant and important” project for West Norfolk, which would “improve the quality of life by reducing the volume of traffic travelling through” West Winch.

He said the cabinet’s approval for the plans to be submitted would help to “push the project forward” – which he said was an “essential” part of the West Winch growth area.

This area will see up to 4,000 new homes built over the next 20 years.

The proposed route for the access road 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 Andrew Jamieson, deputy leader of Norfolk County Council, told the meeting that he was “extremely pleased” to see the plan come to fruition.

“It has been a long time in the making,” he said.

“From a financial perspective, I’m particularly pleased to confirm there are no implications for Norfolk County Council.

“We are not having to contribute funding to this. That’s largely due to the work that officers have done with Homes England. I would like to put on record my thanks to them for the work which was key so this can be forward-funded.”

And Cllr Kay Mason Billig, leader of the council, said: “This scheme will help West Norfolk Council reach their housing targets for much-needed new homes in that area, and bringing relief to the A10.”

She said it was positive that the access road would be built before most of the houses were started.

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.