The route of the Western Link.
- Credit: Norfolk County Council
Fresh details about the Norwich Western Link will be revealed today - ahead of a crunch decision over the future of the controversial road.
Papers for Norfolk County Council s cabinet meeting next month - where councillors will be asked to agree which contractor would build the road and to lodge a business case with the government - are likely to be published this afternoon.
To be in with a chance of securing funding and consent for the road, which would link the Norwich Northern Distributor Road to the A47 to the west of the city, the council needs to lodge a business case.
That comes following criticism from Norfolk Wildlife Trust, the Norfolk Rivers Trust and the Norfolk branch of the Campaign To Protect Rural England over the road s impact on wildlife. The council s claim that mitigation would mean a net gain for biodiversity has been questioned.
Concerns have been raised about the road s impact on barbastelle bats.
- Credit: Charlotte Packman
The cabinet papers which will go before councillors acknowledge those concerns, but the council says it is continuing its own bat surveys.
The council also claims the road will lead to a reduction in more than 450,000 equivalent tonnes of carbon dioxide over 60 years - based on projections for future uptake of electric vehicles.