Councillors have made a strong stand at a meeting on proposals to improve the A47, with the dualling of the Acle Straight a 'top priority'.

Councillor for Magdalen, Colleen Walker, had a particularly strong view having been born and bred in Great Yarmouth. She said: 'We need to push this through as one more accident is just not acceptable.'

She was speaking as the council's environment, development and transport committee debated key issues around Improvements to the A47. This follows a report in the government's autumn statement which announced that key improvements would be made by the Highways Agency in Norfolk between now and 2021 – costing £300m.

These include the dualling of the road between North Tuddenham and Easton, Blofield and North Burling-ham, junction improvements on the A47/A12 in Great Yarmouth and safety measures on the road at Thickthorn and Acle. However, a dualling of the Acle Straight was not a priority listed in the report. As a result and in somewhat of a surprise proposal, Thorpe St Andrew councillor Ian Mackie, proposed that £1m from the sale of county farm land for housing development at Acle, should be used to further the county council's ambition to secure the dualling of the Acle Straight at the earliest opportunity.

Councillor Mackie assured members that the sale was 'well advanced' and that this 'funding would otherwise be retained within the County Farms Estate'.

Final decisions on the budget have to be made by full council, which meets to consider the 2015/16 budget on February 16.

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