Norfolk County Council is circulating a flier on the Norwich Western Link for the Northern Distributor Road (NDR). The flier includes a map that very usefully illustrates some of the issues involved in link from the NDR to the A47.

Any route south from where the NDR joins the A1087, Fakenham Road, would cross both the rivers Tud and Wensum. The road works involved in the valleys would be extensive, expensive and cross host of County Wildlife Sites including the environmentally sensitive Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

The Fakenham Road already crosses the Wensum in Attlebridge close to where the NDR joins it. There is an existing road from Attlebridge that joins A47. A suggested NDR western link, a purple route, roughly follows this road but with a bypass South of Weston Longville and joins the A47 close to the Wood Lane junction of the B1535.

This route has been identified as environmentally the least damaging western link road by the Environment Agency and the cheapest of the possible western links to the NDR by traffic consultants.

The NDR was promoted as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project linking developments north and east of Norwich to the Midlands and North. The purple route fulfils these aspirations.

Dr Graham Martin,

Church Farm, Colney.