Update on our Norwich Western Link project from Cllr Graham Plant, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure

I have an important update for you regarding the next steps for our Norwich Western Link project.

As you know, the Norwich Western Link is a priority infrastructure project for the council and we have been developing our proposals for it for several years. Over this time, we have sought advice from statutory agencies, including Natural England, in large part to ensure our proposals had the greatest chance of being approved once we reached the planning submission stage.

In March last year, days before our planning application was due to be submitted, it became clear that Natural England's position had changed and we had a significant impediment to delivering the proposed Norwich Western Link. This is set out in some detail in the report which my cabinet colleagues and I considered last month.

Since March, our serious efforts to find a solution have unfortunately not provided a way forward. Most recently, in December, we received responses from Natural England and Defra, the Government department that sponsors Natural England. Neither response helps to resolve the issue that is preventing us from progressing this important infrastructure project, nor answered the specific questions which we asked, which is disappointing.

It was right for us to leave no stone unturned in relation to Natural England's stance on our proposals. We will write to them again hoping to get answers to our unanswered questions but at present, we have exhausted all our options in relation to this, so we have made the difficult decision to withdraw the current planning application and prioritise discussions with the Department for Transport (DfT) on the way forward for the project.

I know the withdrawal of the planning application will be immensely disappointing and frustrating news to many of you, including all the individuals, businesses and communities in Norfolk who have been telling us for years that a solution must be found to the transport issues and growing traffic congestion to the west of Norwich.

I can reassure you that the Norwich Western Link remains a priority project for this council.

We hope to have discussions with DfT shortly to agree the way forward and reach a good outcome. Until we've spoken to DfT and reached agreement, we do not want to pre-judge that outcome but our priority remains helping the traffic-blighted communities and improving travel and road safety to the west of Norwich.

The Government has said it is keen to enable economic growth and deliver infrastructure, so we have shared goals, which gives us confidence that we can reach a good solution together. Discussions with DfT will also inform how we deal with the finances on the project and, again, our aim will be to reach a good outcome for Norfolk on this.

I will update you on what comes next for our Norwich Western Link project as soon as I'm able.

I appreciate this news is not what many of you were hoping to hear, and I'm disappointed too. It's important to remember though that we were able to demonstrate the great need to improve travel to the west of Norwich through the two business cases that were submitted to DfT in the process so far, both of which they approved.

We have written to DfT Ministers this week to stress that the need to deliver a transport intervention in this area, to tackle existing transport issues and support planned growth, has not changed. I want you to know that our commitment to making this happen has not changed either.