The Norwich Western Link road is just one of four very costly road projects close to Norwich, all being planned for construction from 2024. The County Council lobbied Government for three A47 schemes, including one which would provide a large roundabout for the NWL close to Honingham. Together, these four schemes would expand traffic and increase carbon emissions over the next decades. They also damage wildlife and nature close to Norwich.
Doing the maths clearly shows that, if these roads are built, electric vehicles will not reduce emissions anywhere like sufficient for Norfolk to contribute to meeting either national or the Norfolk local transport plan carbon targets for 2030 and 2035. Net zero can only be achieved by meeting these vital targets on the way to 2050.
The County Council have been warned for over 20 years, both within the Council and from outside, that trying to meet Norfolk's transport needs by continually expanding traffic growth and locking-in car use would hit the buffer of available carbon budgets, as it now has. They ignored these warnings.
Local campaigner Dr Andrew Boswell is one of the people who serially warned the Council that its policies were inconsistent with emerging national climate legislation since 2003. When each A47 scheme came to planning examination in 2021, he asked National Highways to provide an assessment of the cumulative carbon emissions from the A47 schemes and the NWL so the total impacts on the climate could be considered. They refused to do this, and the Government gave planning consent despite this. Dr Boswell was advised by specialist lawyers that the A47 decisions could be judicially reviewed as they may breach environmental laws designed to protect climate and nature, and he is now taking the Government to Court on each A47 planning decision.
The A47 Easton to North Tuddenham scheme passes through the core sustenance zone of the Ringland Woods super-colony of barbastelle bats. This is a very rare colony of these highly protected bats, but Dr Boswell also discovered that it was given planning consent despite it not being clear that a bat licence would be issued.
The legal cases now go to the High Court on May 10th and 11th, and the planning decisions will be reviewed by a judge, both on carbon and bats grounds.
We await to see the judgement. If the cases succeed then National Highways will need to redo the carbon assessment and bat licence application. The Norwich Western Link can't proceed until planning for A47 schemes is secured due to the shared roundabout. This has increased the planning and financial risks to the NWL which were already very high given the costly design and well established insurmountable environmental impacts of the scheme.
Very experienced climate and nature lawyers are working on the legal cases, and Dr Boswell needs to rapidly build funds ready for the Court Hearings. To find out more and donate to the legal fund, please go to:
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-road-building-wrecking-climate-nature/