Norwich Western Link Road costing taxpayers £27,000 a day

New figures obtained by critics of the scheme have revealed that Norfolk County Council spent £9.7m on costs connected to the proposed 3.9-mile road in the space of 12 months.

A visualisation of the proposed Norwich Western Link road (Image: Norfolk County Council)

Conservative-controlled County Hall has defended the spending, saying it remains committed to the scheme which would link the Northern Distributor Road to the A47 west of Norwich.

The money has been used to pay council staff, consultants, contractors, surveyors and to purchase land.

The Stop The Wensum Link campaign group obtained details of spending between September 2023 and August this year using the Freedom Of Information Act.

David Pett from the Stop The Wensum Link campaign group (Image: David Pett)

Campaign group representative David Pett said: "It's utterly wasteful to be spending over £800,000 a month—equating to a staggering £27,000 a day—on a venture that appears to be dead in the water. 

"Norfolk County Council's inability to secure 100pc government funding has left a gaping funding gap, putting further strain on local resources.

"Moreover, the fact that the budget for this project hasn't been updated for more than a year is simply unacceptable.

"We cannot stand by as public funds are squandered on a project with such an uncertain future."

A visualisation of the viaduct mooted for the Norwich Western Link (Image: Norfolk County Council) 

READ MORE: Western Link supporters say road is vital for housing

The council lodged plans for the road with its own planning committee at the start of the summer. Conservative leaders say is vital to cut congestion, stop rat-running, and boost the economy.

But government advisor Natural England has objected, saying it will threaten a population of protected barbastelle bats.

Natural England says the Norwich Western Link will threaten protected bats (Image: C. Packman)

Its objection came after it previously signalled it was unlikely to award a licence to move or harm the bats, to the consternation of council leaders. 

The council's planning committee will not make a decision until next year.

However it is likely, given the opposition, that the scheme will be 'called in' by the government for a final decision.

Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport (Image: Norfolk County Council)

But Graham Plant, the council's cabinet member for highways, transport and infrastructure, stood by the latest spending - which takes the total spent on the scheme so far to about £50m.

He said: "Major infrastructure projects create huge benefits for communities and businesses, as has been seen with Broadland Northway (also known as the Northern Distributor Road) and Herring Bridge in Great Yarmouth.

"Developing these large-scale projects does take time and requires some investment upfront, but this is an investment in Norfolk’s future.

"We have received significant development funding from the Department for Transport to help us progress the project, so this investment has been shared between Norfolk County Council and national government.

"The planning process for the Norwich Western Link is ongoing and we are continuing to consider the comments received through the recent consultation on our planning application documents.

"We will update people on the next steps for the project once we have done this."

Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group at Norfolk County Council (Image: Archant)

Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group at County Hall, said: "For a scheme teetering under the weight of its own financial and environmental cost, that is a staggering amount to keep paying out.

"£27,000 a day is a lot of money, when you know the chances are that it is going down the drain.

"Public money is in short supply so this simply can't be justified as a priority."

County Hall has received just over £33m in grant payments from the Department for Transport towards the road.

Plans for the Norwich Western Link were lodged in the summer (Image: Norfolk County Council)

The government has earmarked £213m towards the road's £274m bill, although County Hall leaders had hoped to secure more. This figure relates to the last published estimate, from November last year.

Despite pressure from opposition councillors, County Hall leaders recently said it was too soon to give a fresh estimate for what the project, which includes a viaduct over the Wensum Valley, would cost.