In a recent development, the Norfolk Wildlife Trust has voiced serious concerns over the potential damage to wildlife due to the proposed Norwich Western Link road project. The government had recently mentioned this project among others that could benefit from the scrapping of the northern section of HS2.

In a letter to the Department of Transport, the Trust has requested that no decision be made regarding further public funding for the road until it is clearly demonstrated that the mitigation proposed by Norfolk County Council would be effective for rare, and legally protected, barbastelle bats.

The Trust has been raising concerns over the impact of the Norwich Western Link on the area’s wildlife and landscape for years. They warn that the development would result in the destruction of a network of vital wildlife habitats including ancient woods and trees, grasslands, chalk streams, and floodplain. These concerns are heightened by the discovery of a super-colony of rare barbastelle bats along the proposed route of the road.

Eliot Lyne, CEO of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, stated in the letter, “The impacts of such a scheme on these sensitive and irreplaceable habitats and their biodiversity cannot be effectively mitigated. In our professional view, the road scheme is unlikely to get planning permission due to the mounting and detailed long-term scientific evidence that it will irreparably harm the UK’s largest population of rare and threatened barbastelle bats.”

Eliot also referred to a previous letter sent to the Department for Transport in January, which highlighted new evidence on the population of rare barbastelle bats in the path of the Western Link. This data was collected by local scientists (supported by the University of East Anglia) and volunteers. He emphasised the importance of this area for the bat colony, stating that it far exceeds the criteria for designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Despite the significant concerns raised by the public and nearly 16,000 signatures on the petition calling for the proposal to be stopped, no evidence of sufficient mitigation has been provided by the Council. In December 2022, Natural England confirmed that it is actively considering the designation of the Wensum Woodlands area as an SSSI due to its importance for the barbastelle bat population.

The Norfolk Wildlife Trust is part of a growing collective of regional and national environmental organisations, including Stop the Wensum Link, CPRE Norfolk, Friends of the Earth, the Woodland Trust, Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society, Buglife, Norfolk and Norwich Bat Group and British Dragonfly Society, all opposing the development due to its unacceptable impact on wildlife and the natural landscape.

For more information and to read the full letter, visit Norfolk Wildlife Trust.