The River Wensum was at the centre of a debate at City Hall tonight.

The River Wensum sparked a war of words at a Norwich City Council meeting tonight, with the Green Party accusing the authority of not doing enough to breathe new life into the waterway.

As reported in the Evening News, the Wensum River Parkway Partnership has called for more to be done to make the river a draw for tourists and businesses.

A motion, put forward to the full council by Lucy Galvin, Green councillor for Wensum ward, had stated that the full potential of the river was not being maximised.

The motion called for the council to take action to encourage pedestrian and cycling access to the river through the planning process and to not allow private developments to prevent access to the river.

It also called for the cabinet to fully support the Wensum River Parkway project and to encourage and promote river activities.

But the Labour group amended the motion, so it read that the council and cabinet would continue to do those things, pointing out a lot of work had already been done and that the council was a member of the Wensum River Parkway Partnership.

However, Graeme Gee, Green councillor for Mancroft, said he had seen little evidence of pro-active efforts to improve the river over the past 25 years.

But Bert Bremner, Labour cabinet member for planning and transportation, said there had been enormous changes, including adding extra stretches to the Riverside Walk.

The amended motion was unanimously approved.