‘Think again’ plea over King's Lynn road use reform proposal

A disabled mother says she fears she will not be able to take her daughter to school independently if plans to change usage rules on a restricted Lynn road get the go-ahead.

Lisa Calvert, from South Lynn, has urged councillors to think again about the proposed reforms to Hardings Way, amid a growing row over officials’ handling of the issue.

An official complaint has been made to senior bosses, amid claims the council may have acted illegally, though the authority maintains it has acted properly.

A new traffic order, which would allow the bollards which prevent most vehicles accessing the route to be moved, is due to be debated next week.

Critics believe it is a move towards the entire route being opened to traffic.

Mrs Calvert currently uses Hardings Way to take her five-year-old daughter Rae-Ann, who is herself partially sighted, to the Whitefriars Academy and said: “I won’t be able to take my daughter to school on my own.

“It should be left how it is for the safety of the people.”

Mrs Calvert has also made a video with local councillor Alexandra Kemp, which they say shows the unsafe route she would be forced to take to the school if the order goes ahead.

Miss Kemp claims officials have resisted her calls for the video to be shown to the committee, branding it “the video they don’t want you to see”, or for the council’s disability officer to address the meeting.

She said she had also lodged a formal complaint over a letter sent to dozens of objectors, which suggested they had misunderstood the scope of the proposed order and invited them to withdraw their objections.

Miss Kemp argues the council may have acted unlawfully, though officials deny that.

She said: “Norfolk County Council is not listening to residents’ concerns. The process falls short of the standard expected of a public authority.”