Business bosses say congestion could be cut by the Northern Distributor Road, but critics say it will concrete over the countryside.

Norfolk business bosses hail planned Northern Distributor Road for Norwich

by DAN GRIMMER Monday, September 19, 2011
6:36 AM

Business bosses have hailed the northern distributor road as “the single most important road improvement in Norfolk”, set to generate a £1.3bn boost to the county’s economy.

But critics say it is a road to nowhere which will concrete over swathes of countryside and is little more than an outdated vanity project for council bosses.

A fresh bid has been submitted by Norfolk County Council to convince the government that the NDR is worth pumping millions of pounds into and the public have their chance to let civil servants know what they think of the proposed £112.5m project.

The NDR was originally conceived as linking all the way from Postwick to the A1067 to the west of the city, but has been scaled back.

The current proposal is for 14km of dual carriageway stretching from the A140 at Norwich International Airport to Postwick.

The scheme had been given ‘programme entry’ status by the Department for Transport two years ago but when the coalition government took over, a review of road schemes meant it had to go back into a ‘development pool’.

That means it is competing for a share of £630m with more than 40 other projects around the country.

The county council’s new submission to secure that cash highlights how the road is “key” to enabling 37,000 new homes to be built and 27,000 new jobs created in and around Norwich, while unlocking growth of £1.3bn.

They say it will enable a package of transport improvements in Norwich, including rapid bus transit schemes, while enouraging growth in areas such as North Walsham and Aylsham.

The council is calling for the Department for Transport to award £67.5m, on top of £19m already earmarked from the Department for Communities and Local Government for the so-called Postwick Hub – changes to the junction at the A47 which is effectively the gateway for the NDR.

The council intends to make up the total cost by borrowing £22m, with the rest of the cash coming from growth point cash.

Council bosses still hope that at a future stage a further stretch can be built connecting through to the A1067.

And business leaders around Norfolk, including some of the biggest employers in the county, have backed the call for the government to fund the NDR.

A spokesman for insurance company Aviva said: “We think the addition of this new route will not only benefit Aviva staff but all those based at Broadland Business Park who regularly travel into work through the north of the city.”

Andrew Bell, chief executive of Norwich International Airport, said if the NDR was not built it would jeopardise future expansion.

He said: “The development potential for the airport encompasses not only passenger connectivity to and from a relatively isolated yet economically productive region of the UK, but also the chance to attract and retain world class businesses that operate in the oil and gas and wider energy sector, the maintenance repair and overhaul sector and the general aviation industry.

“There is no doubt that the momentum provided by the aiport’s current activities is acting as a catalyst for further development. “This further development is, however, in jeopardy without the necessary regional infrastructure to support it. The NDR is one of the key pieces of infrastructure that will unlock this potential, providing economic growth, employment and skills training to the city and the wider region.”

One of Norfolk’s fastest-growing industries, and one tipped to expand even more in the years ahead is the energy sector.

John Best, chief executive of the East of England Energy Group which represents more than 350 businesses in the energy sector, said: “The construction of the northern distributor road is the single most important road improvement in Norfolk. It will offer considerable benefits to the industry and we therefore offer our wholehearted support.

“It’s a lifeline for the sector in terms of travel to and from the airport. For every minute you have vehicles, equipment and people held up in traffic jams that’s a blow to our sector’s efficiencies.”

Kevin Ovenden, group finance director of Acteon Group, which services the offshore oil and gas industry, agreed. He said: “We have significant interests in both Norwich and Great Yarmouth and we believe that access within and between these areas would be greatly improved by the NDR.

“We also believe that Norwich as a city will be greatly improved by the creation of a new route which will reduce the burden on the existing inner and outer ring-roads which, on the north side, are frequently very congested with traffic.”

The Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and the recently-formed New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for Norfolk and Suffolk have also backed the bid.

LEP chairman Andy Wood, also chief executive of Adnams, said it would help realise “substantial economic growth” in the region and described it as “the key driver” for the economic growth of Norwich and the region as a whole.

And Graham Plant, county council cabinet member for planning and transportation, says the case for the road, which the council has spent the past decade working up, has been well made.

He said: “Transport is not an end in itself, and the NDR is critical to Norwich’s future economic success. Improvements in the city centre will allow the growth of business and jobs, but the NDR will also provide direct access to key employment sites at the airport and at Broadland Business Park, creating in total around 12,000 jobs and over £1.3bn in economic benefits.”

But the road has vociferous critics. More than 10,000 cards are being delivered to homes by the Norwich and Norfolk Transport Action Group, in conjunction with the Campaign to Protect Rural England Norfolk, Stop Norwich Urbanisation (SNUB) and Norwich and Norfolk Friends of the Earth.

Those cards urge people to send a message to Norman Baker, parliamentary under-secretary of state for transport, urging him to stop this “devastating” road from being built.

They argue it will not ease congestion, but encourage more drivers to take to their cars.

They say the county council has not properly tested alternatives to the NDR and that it will divert money from more sustainable transport measures.

Denise Carlo, from the Norwich and Norfolk Transport Action Group (NNTAG), said: “Millions of pounds of public money have been spent whilst the council slashed rural bus services, cut park and ride facilities, axed Norwich bus station travel information desk and delayed many local road safety schemes.

“On top of this, the council aims to make an early grab for additional money for this road from the new local Community Infrastructure Fund, delaying, and even preventing, other essential community infrastructure such as schools.

“This is despite all the major developers saying that future growth in and around Norwich doesn’t depend on this road and Postwick Hub.

“It comes down to many people having to suffer the severe loss of valued services, whilst the council continues with this outdated vanity project.”

At the public examination into the Joint Core Strategy, a blueprint for where homes and jobs will be created over the next 15 years, a number of developers said they could build homes without the NDR.

And David Merrick, director (development) at estate agents Savills, said there were other priorities which would boost the region more than the NDR.

He said: “I would put broadband above anything – broadband is right up there in my book in terms of being an economic driver and the ability to do business. I was in Holt recently and you couldn’t even get a mobile phone signal.

“The county should be thinking about the south and west of Norwich in terms of its ability to be able to absorb more economic growth. Even with the NDR people want to be at the front door.

“It’s all about the run down to the A11 and investment in that would be just as important. The shame of the NDR is that it’s simply money on one project.”

However, the county council argues the NDR will help deliver new homes and jobs in a properly phased way, and not leave the area vulnerable to developers making speculative applications without proper infrastructure being in place.

The public has an opportunity to comment on the bid until October 14. Comments can be made to the DfT by emailing development.pool@dft.gsi.gov.uk

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64 comments

A PERSONAL view of the NDR Much has been said about The Road to Nowhere (NDR), from its Southern junction at Postwick and its abrupt ending at A140 Norwich Airport The Western section , the most needed, was abandoned because of its unwanted intrusion through the “Wetlands” of Ringland and Costessey. As this NDR will be in-complete, I believe that this development is unlikely to be funded by the Government although it may give someone a good laugh. May I therefore suggest that an alternative option be considered :- What about a CANAL joining those Wetlands with the River Yare? It could follow much the same route as the proposed NDR, incorporate ROLLON ROLL OFF at either end, with similar stations en-route, allowing access to and from the main roads. Think about it....North Norwich could become the Venice of East Anglia. The surface would never need repair, and a toll would pay for its upkeep It could be called Norwich Canal Doorway(NOCANDO). If it did nothing else, It would provide many opportunities for employment over many years for highly involved and highly salaried personnel, much as the NDR has.

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Joe Rome

Sunday, September 25, 2011
Indeed I am someone (regardless of my current circumstances) that thinks house prices are still at a ridiculous level and if we are assuming others situations you must be someone that bought an overpriced house at the height of the market somewhere near the proposed road and you want to stop others enjoying the status you currently have! (as I said all random assumptions!)

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Focus1

Sunday, September 25, 2011
Born61 I live in the City. I assume you think I am wrong about accessing the hospital? I dont know the actual distances, but the N Walsham Road is just about opposite the Hospital therefore it wouldnt matter too much which way round you had to go - except any road to the west needs to go round Taverham so would probably be longer. But even if it was a mile or 2 shorter, does that really make such a difference?

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Fred

Friday, September 23, 2011
Where do you live Fred?

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Born61

Friday, September 23, 2011
Pongo, County council isnt responsible for te A11, thats another issue altogether which should have been resolved years ago. I have lost count of the amount of time I have wasted in the jams between Barton Mills and Elveden.

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Abraham

Thursday, September 22, 2011
If you live in North Walsham and want to get to the hospital then the current plan for the NDR will be perfect - why would you need to go anticlockwise? A new hospital certainly isnt justified. Regarding the A11 the dualling is due to start next year - so it is not a case of eitheror. As for growth, I cant see what all the fuss is about, Norwich has been growing for years, and all the better for it. It is a wonderful city and it needs to grow a bit to keep the young people and attract new blood.

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Fred

Wednesday, September 21, 2011
As someone who has to travel from North Walsham to the hospital on a regular basis I would welcome a NDR but only if it is complete, otherwise it is a complete waste of time and money. However, if the money was spent on a hospital with proper facilities to the north of the city I would be far happier.

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Born61

Wednesday, September 21, 2011
why don't these bosses try sitting in the traffic up the a11 at elveden crossroads. they might then think that there more important things to spend on than a road to nowhere.

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pongo

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
I have to laugh at the proposed 27,000 new jobs that will be created due to this NDR. What rubbish! I grew up in an environment that began as fields and was progressively built up. This brought all the trappings of a big city; crime, loss of community, pressure on public amenities and loss of countryside. Oh, but there was a better transportation system. Is this really what you want to happen to this fine city in the interest of short term economic growth?

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Thunderchild

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
I have to laugh at the proposed 27,000 new jobs that will be created due to this NDR. What rubbish! I grew up in an environment that began as fields and was progressively built up. This brought all the trappings of a big city; crime, loss of community, pressure on public amenities and loss of countryside. Oh, but there was a better transportation system. Is this really what you want to happen to this fine city in the interest of short term economic growth?

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Thunderchild

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
SNUB = Stop Norwich UrBanisation Abraham = someone who doesn't give a monkeys about anything else except his journey round the ring road. Nothing wrong with caring about the environment you live in. I don't want to live in a built up noisy place like Milton Keynes. That's why I live in Norwich

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Canary Gal

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Apologies to north city, it was focus 1 who seems to wants to devalue house prices so heshe can afford to buy. And what happens to all the people who have bought at the height of the market. Don't worry about them eh?

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Canary Gal

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
That's funny! The last people I spoke to who lived in Milton Keynez moved to Norwich to get away from the horror of living there! Can't get into dentist, doctors, struggle to get hospital appointments and as for the schools, forget it! Then again they were talking about living there not driving around the roads there! I have lived in many places in the UK thanks and apart from the Lake Disctrict which was quite lovely, nowhere beats Norwich. North City - your point that buldng thousands of houses will devalue existing houses to help those who cannot afford one to buy is hardly going to endear you to exisitng homeowners. And if you thinkNorwich is so backdated and small and behind other cities in the UK why dont you move? Everyone I know loves Norwich the way it is, thinks it a great place to bring up kids and doesn't want a sprawling urban development like you seem to. There are plenty of places like that in the UK already!

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Canary Gal

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Beeston, I didnt mention the M25, you did. I was referring to Milton Keynes specifically in reply to Canarygal. However as you have raised it, the M25 runs pretty well most of the time. Last week I travelled from Surrey to Norfolk using the M25, I had no hold ups at all, even though the road was very busy as usual. Once I reached Barton Mills though , it was a different matter, with a long slow crawl to Thetford. We need good roads, its a fact, nobody is suggesting an M25 for Norfolk. The idea that the rest of the country has got it wrong and that Norfolk is heaven seems to me to be wrong.

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Abraham

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
SNUB = Stop Norwich UrBanisation Abraham = someone who doesn't give a monkeys about anything else except his journey round the ring road. Nothing wrong with caring about the environment you live in. I don't want to live in a built up noisy place like Milton Keynes. That's why I live in Norwich

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Canary Gal

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Abraham I guess I should apologize, of course I should aspire to those free flowing 'quality of life' enhancing roads you speak of...like the M25 for instance. But then again I suppose your answer to the M25 filling up and grinding to a halt on a daily basis would be to simply keep adding more lanes to it, and when they fill up too, build another orbital road to circle London outside the existing motorway. I would be interested in your definition of progress because from where I'm sitting by default it means you move on to something better than that with which you started.

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beeston bump

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Canarygal. I can tell you as someone who goes to Milton Keynes on a very regular basis that the quality of life there is every bit as good , if not better than around Norwich. In MK the road system is modern and capable of taking the traffic. Norwich is far more congested and unpleasant to drive in. The idea that because we have some of the worst infrastructure in the UK somehow makes Norfolk a better place to live in is perverse . Good free flowing roads adds to a places lifestyle not detract. I regularly drive back into Norfolk from London, the midlands and the north of England, and always the most unpleasant part of the journey and the one that delays me the most is the single carriageway part of the A11. The "do different" attitude of some of us around here , should be retitled "do worse than everywhere else."

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Abraham

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
I assume the people that are protesting about the building of 10,000 homes are people that already have mortgages and aren't of the huge number of people that are unable to get on the mortgage ladder due to house prices being kept artificially high due to lack of suitable low cost housing?

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Focus1

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Canarygirl, that comment sums up why Norwich (City I think not, Town seems more appropriate) is so small, backdated and behind most other cities in the UK

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NorthCity

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Think this sums up S.N.U.B in one paragraph from their website "Once that housing need, as opposed to housing want, is determined and independently verified by experts we would expect to see a reduction in the number of houses required over the next 15 years." So basically where are all the people going to disappear to? Dead, some other county? Well last time I looked the population was getting older, too many people have second homes and getting on the housing ladder for people like myself at a young age was neigh on impossible without significant financial backing. There is a need for housing, unfortunately this means sacrificing areas of land, unless of course people are advocating voting who can and can't live in a house?

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NorthCity

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The NDR is not planned to link up with Easton because the Conservatives living in Drayton and Hethersett can't contemplate it, as much as it is the Wensum valley environmental concerns. NCC transport planners are toads unable to plan for anything else, we need a rapid transit system, a tram of sorts traversing the City north east to south west. The extra housing to them means more council taxes, they could not care less that we have no sufficient water supplies for their housing plans and are stuck in traffic. Their planning will result in worse traffic chaos than already exists. A new hospital, not yet planned, but dearly needed, has not even registered on their Richter scale. The current level of housing is unsustainable and our planners know it, still they are trying to make out that all is well as long as we expand. The business argument is floored and untrue, because the economy is as flat as a pan, why try and eyewash us.

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ingo wagenknecht

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
SNUB = Stop Norwich UrBanisation Abraham = someone who doesn't give a monkeys about anything else except his journey round the ring road. Nothing wrong with caring about the environment you live in. I don't want to live in a built up noisy place like Milton Keynes. That's why I live in Norwich

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Canary Gal

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The proposed route for the NDR won't solve any transport problems. It seems a long way to drive around Norwich when you can go through the middle. It will be chaos for years while it gets built, then the infill development will cause gridlock. If Aviva staff want people to get to work from North of the city in a sustainable manner they should help fund the planned railway station for or provide buses from the villages north of Norwich. It also makes a mockery of planning law, building in greenbelt, fragmenting habitats and consuming villages.

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paddy5791

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Broadland Insider sums up the opposition - dont build in Broadland, build somewhere else instead! As for there being no jobs in Broadland clearly there are no jobs at Broadland Business Park or around Vulcan Road and the airport, or on Salhouse Road. Oh yes and no-one works at Rackheath. And of course the hospital hasnt seen this coming and wont be planning to expand if necessary. And Anglian Water hasnt yet worked out how to provide the water. Because all the experts we pay to look into thses things no nothing. Blind prejudice is a much better way to plan our future. And after my house that was built on a greenfield there should be no more. Please get on and build the road, improve the busses, and lets also get the houses and jobs that we so desperately need.

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Local Dad

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
SNUB = NIMBY?

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Abraham

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Masons.

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nrg

Monday, September 19, 2011
SNUB were told at a public meeting in 2009 by the then leader of BDC, Simon Woodbridge, that if the NDR was not built then there would be no large scale development of houses in the North East growth triangle. This proved that the real reason for the NDR was to provide infrastructure for the 10,000+ houses to be built in the growth triangle and nothing to do with easing congestion. We have always been of the opinion that this road to nowhere was a white elephant and the case for it has never been proven. The current case has been disproved particularly as it now only goes to the Airport thus moving any potential bottlenecks to the north of the city. It has always struck us as bizarre that the proposed plans to build a so called Eco town with sustainable living and a reduced use of vehicles needs a 4 lane carriageway on its doorstep to make it a viable proposition! It is also unconceivable that any local authority would be even dreaming of going to the financial markets to borrow such huge amounts of money in these uncertain economic times. We would much prefer to see investment in the A11 and the A47 to support the new Regional Development zones and the predicted growth of employment in the east of the county and the already proven employment growth in the southern half of the city. These investments would be much more preferable then the plans to build a Norwich spaghetti junction at Postwick linking a road to nowhere to thousands of houses with no employment sites thus forcing thousands of extra vehicle movements onto the roads. So the NDR really is a feeder road to get people to work if we do not build the houses then we do not need the road! Case proven.

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BDC INSIDER

Monday, September 19, 2011
Beeston Bump, it is a bit like putting forward a view contrary to the view of the article, it may say your post has been accepted but it just fails to appear.... Freedom of expression??

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andy

Monday, September 19, 2011
Good for people's "quality of life". Ha ha ha ha! I have heard it all now.

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chucky noris

Monday, September 19, 2011
Ahh....well done EDP, a voting box. Trouble is, I tried 4 times to vote no, and 4 times it didn't register...so for a laugh I thought I'd see if I could vote yes...and guess what? My vote registered first time. Mmmmm.....

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beeston bump

Monday, September 19, 2011
Mick, wrong assumptions all round. I supported the southern bypass, it made good sense then and still does. The NDR has an entirely different agenda. It was put to 'public consultation' and then subject to significant change which destroyed much of its transport rationale. Your belief that it will improve 'the quality of life' is entirely without foundation. The support quoted by business is pretty weak by any standards and improving the transport links for only one employer, assuming they all live to the north of the city, is hardly justification for the hugh cost.

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andy

Monday, September 19, 2011
The NDR,will do nothing at all to relieve Traffic.It will do the opposite,at at great cost to the taxpayer.It will significantly increase noise pollution,light pollution,carginogenic pollution, One should understand the opportunity cost,if this money is available (the country is broke) it should be put to use in different ways.Dual the A47 to Yarmouth ,improve the Bitten line. Just getting into Thorpe & out of Thorpe becomes a nightmare!

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Alfred Townly

Monday, September 19, 2011
Pleased to have kick-started a passionate debate this morning! Better that than apathy any day of the week.

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beeston bump

Monday, September 19, 2011
The Northern Distributor Road is vital. It will be good for business and good for people's "quality of life" too. The opponents of the NDR are the same people I remember opposing the Southern Bypass 20 years ago. They were wrong then - and they are still wrong.

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Mick Castle

Monday, September 19, 2011
How about this for the actual scenario if this road goes ahead. The NDR will never link at the western end as this has already been refused. It will be rounabouts all the way round (it has always been planned as this for the Plumstead Road junction. Polution will increase significantly. The increased traffic will result in the Southern Bypass becoming critically overloaded, Norwich Hosptial - which is already at critical level far too often - will become permanently at critical level and many of us will have to go to Yarmouth, King's Lynn or Bury St Edmunds as is already happening. Norwich roads will be frequently be gridlocked and Norwich CC will impose draconion traffic restrictions. Essential services will become severly overloaded and eventually cost 10's of millions to compensate but will be delayed causing real problems for everyone in the meantime. The predicted jobs will fail to materialise and local unemployment will rocket. Improved local transport is just pie in an unaffordable sky. Total costs, even the direct one, will turn out to be far greater than the optomistic benefits.

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andy

Monday, September 19, 2011
The NDR will never link up with the southern bypass as it would have to go through an area of outstanding beauty and has already been ruled out. This road is purely a development road which will stop at the airport. What people also don't seem to realise is it's nothing like the southern bypass, as with the exception of the Plumstead road which will have an enormous flyover ( lovely for a conservation area), it is roundabout after roundabout after roundabout. The recent poll on the evening news online was 71% against the NDR. The £112.5M could be much better spent improving public transport, which is currently being slashed. In any case, 37,000 houses, with at least 1 car per household and in some cases 2, will NOT improve the traffic problems in Norwich but make it much worse. People in Taverham, Drayton, Ringland etc won't know what's hit them if it goes ahead.....

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Canary Gal

Monday, September 19, 2011
OK North City,The Northern Ring road was just that- a ring road round Norwich at used to be much much less cluttered and congested than it is now. I know some of the housing is contemporary with parts of the road but any rational person would have expected all housing development to enter and exit the main road at limited points via parallel access roads rather than driveways straight onto the road.Ditto business and commercial premises-many of which have been developed on residential plots. Roundabouts and light controlled junctions could also be redesigned to ease traffic flow and all parking and waiting banned. In other words, treat the road as it is meant to be, a road to carry traffic from one arterial road to another rather than a loop of retail park.

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Daisy Roots

Monday, September 19, 2011
The only sensible thing to do is build complete Northern Bypass round to Easton. If that is not done in the first place there will be another waste of planning money in the future when the road is completed.

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beverley

Monday, September 19, 2011
How is the NDR supposed to relieve congestion into Norwich? It's designed to take traffic around, not into, the city. Those who are commuting will still use the same road without any benefit. The council should instead use the money to subsidise the buses to the point where it's more economical for people to take public transport that to drive in. From outside the city it costs over £10 for a family to get into Norwich for a couple of hours shopping, but less than £4 to park. The various councils should be looking at reducing the cost of public transport instead of making it harder for private vehicles (one way systems, upping the price of parking, closing streets to cars). That would reduce the amount of traffic entering the city and reduce the fumes that we all breathe, but it a way that doesn't just alienate car drivers. The carrot approach, rather than just the stick.

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Stuart

Monday, September 19, 2011
Daisy, could you clarify what you mean by "gradually rationalise the existing northern ring road"? galjanie: if people can't agree onwant the this lnik road (which I could assume would be a start to the joining of the A47), then how on earth is planning permission for a full Northern Bypass ever going to be achieved? Also the dualling of the Acle Straight won't happen for 25 years due to landonwers, B.A., E.A. CNP objections

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NorthCity

Monday, September 19, 2011
2 schoolboy errors Home4locals, firstly the A11 is the responsibilty of the Highways Agency and not any Norfolk Council and secondly Norfolk County Council has pledged £15 million to enable the expansion of Broadband availability in the county. A little knowledge or research is a wonderful thing

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robotsthatcare

Monday, September 19, 2011
dear daisy roots--aviva do have a bus of their own--the diverted number 17 which goes right into their carpark and out again.its a wonder the bus does not go up a lift so the poor dears do not have to walk outside to get a bus.

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bookworm

Monday, September 19, 2011
Totally agree with NigelS.

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Abraham

Monday, September 19, 2011
The whole project is simply unsustainable on many fronts. For a start just where is the water supply coming from for 37,000 new homes? Watch Panorama tonight and find out more.

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John L Norton

Monday, September 19, 2011
Unless you are directly affected by the traffic jams in the North of the city caused by the road system (twenty years behind that in th South of Norwich) then I don't see that you have any valid comment to make, on a road you will likely never use. This road should have been built in 1990 alongside the southern bypass.

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NigelS

Monday, September 19, 2011
NDR will enable thousands of houses to be built, resulting in more traffic jams not less. If the council were serious about promoting Norfolk business it would dual the A11 and ensure Broadband coverage for all, enabling businesses to compete all over Norfolk not just Norwich and invest in public transport not more roads. We live in Norfolk because the way of life is different to places like, for example the Thames Valley where there are endless motorways, major airports and yes, horrendous traffic jams every day. Do we want an expanded airport? Do we want Norwich to extend to Wroxham? The NDR moves Norfolk in the direction of all the other clone towns blighting England. Please make your feelings known at development.pool@dft.gsi.gov.uk before we lose the Norfolk we all love.

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Homes4locals

Monday, September 19, 2011
I am with Daisy roots. For those who may not read the Evening News, you should be aware that this campaign started there last week. They even added a poll. However when it reached about 75% in opposition to the NDR, Archant pulled it. I advise you to look elsewhere for a more sober assessment. This road will generate, not reduce traffic and for all those who think it is like the Southern Bypass with two tier junctions take a look at the plans. With 10,000 extra houses and 15,000 or so extra cars it will be just like every other commuter route, badly designed and blocked solid.

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Richard Williams

Monday, September 19, 2011
NCC should focus on A11, please can we have a motorway in Norfolk so businesses service East Anglia.

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LCT

Monday, September 19, 2011
You have hit the nail on the head Abraham. It DOESN'T go all the way. That is why we should wait until we have planning permission for a full Northern Bypass. A great deal of commuter traffic already travels through villages such as Old Costessey from TaverhamDrayton or uses and damages the very narrow Ringland Lane to join the A47 at Easton. The NDR would simply dump vehicles (including HGV's) in the middle of nowhere having enticed them off the Southern bypass at Postwick and they would then have to make their way through small backroads. I also believe that the road improvement that would most increase wealth and trade in Norfolk (once the Elveden stretch of the A11 has been done) is dualling the Acle Straight and opening up Gt Yarmouth.

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galjanie overseas

Monday, September 19, 2011
Comments can be made to the DfT by emailing development.pool@dft.gsi.gov.uk Please email your comments. I shall certainly be sending my views.

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galjanie overseas

Monday, September 19, 2011
I run a small business and I am not a "backward looking sandal wearer" and I agree entirely with beeston bump's comments. Quality of life is what makes Norfolk great - and boosts our economy - and building this road will diminish this.

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DrJB

Monday, September 19, 2011
I live in Spixworth and if the NDR is built then to get to the A47 I will still have to go to the ring road, through Norwich or long way round to the Southern Bypass and around Norwich. All because the NDR will not link up to the A47 west of Norwich but will stop on the Fakenham road. What is the point in doing part of the job? Taking the NDR to the A47 west will save so much fuel and time for everyone wishing to go from north and northeast of Norwich.

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Christopher Neave

Monday, September 19, 2011
After growing up in North Norfolk i chose to continue living in North Norfolk, but with the current house prices and lack of decent paid work in the area the only way i can afford to do this is to work in Norwich. The commute is horendous, we need this road - NOW.

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cromerlady

Monday, September 19, 2011
It is an exhorbitant waste of tax-payers money to spend such a vast amount on a road that doesn't join up with the existing Southern Bypass at its western point. People living in Norwich and surrounding areas, who want to travel north or west, will still have to use the Southern Bypass.

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Jas44

Monday, September 19, 2011
Plenty of Nimbys out today I see. Its about time this road was built. My only complaint is that it wont completely circle Norwich as it should do. Complaints from backward looking sandal wearers should be ignored.

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Abraham

Monday, September 19, 2011
Well said Beeston bump, with the world teetering at the brink of a double dip recession and most likely a global monetary devaluation and years of slump, these business clarions sound hollow to say the least. With banks not lending much, with the the same old NCC habits still in abundance, no plan B, this NDR looks like a road too far. What we are not told is that a levy is already carved off from our council tax and business rates to pay for the road, just in case the Government does not come up with the money, a road by stealth and subdefuge.

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ingo wagenknecht

Monday, September 19, 2011
My plan Richard would be to use a fraction of the NDR money to gradually rationalise the existing northern ring road, the access points to that road, the junctions, how the road is used-parking on a ring road for goodness sake- and to create an urban clearway. The piecemeal drip of planning consents and lack of fore sight has made this road much less efficient than it was and could be. I believe it has been deliberately neglected to reinforce the case for the NDR. It might not be as easy as cutting a swathe through Norfolk but it might be better for more people-on the lines of the number of people wanting to get from eg Thorpe to Hellesdon on a daily year round basis is probably greater than the number wanting to get from eg Cromer to the A 11.

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Daisy Roots

Monday, September 19, 2011
Hello, the whip is out on the EDP, look forward to a heavily pro NDR campaign from now on if this dragging out of a few very weak justifications is anything to go by Why not round on Aviva and other employers for not having an effective worker traffic minimisation program or providing worker transport from P&Rs instead of massive car parks around offices which are an ugly scar on the east Norwich landscape. Even at Bernard Matthews they provide buses for their staff.

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Daisy Roots

Monday, September 19, 2011
So then you guys what's YOUR plan then? Guessing you all live in those villages then, vested interest?

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Richard Waugh

Monday, September 19, 2011
Good point, Colby Army! - same cars stuck there for ages; probably why they think we need the NDR. The authorities all agree with Beeston Bump's summation of the issue, but in the mean time they say "Let's have the new roads and houses anyway because, if we don't get the money, somewhere else will".

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JCW

Monday, September 19, 2011
Well said beeston bump. We are sleepwalking into disaster and a poorer quality of life.

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bookworm

Monday, September 19, 2011
Its a shame they choose to use an old photo promoting the story, there's a Skoda Favorite then a VW Jetta Ford Escort and a Rover 214

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Colby Army!

Monday, September 19, 2011
I can't argue with any of that beeston bump, you have got it spot on.

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chucky noris

Monday, September 19, 2011
The road isn't a traffic alleviation project, that's a smokescreen. It's being used as a lever for massive, unprecedented inward migration and huge, urban expansion. Look forward to sprawling housing estates, retail parks and dual carriageways where the countryside around Spixworth and Salhouse used to be. Our business and political leaders trot out the same tired old mantra...perpetual economic growth at all costs, the hamster-wheel chase for some half-imagined forever-just-out-of-reach holy grail of 'prosperity', and the maddening self delusion that this will miraculously make us all happy. Decades of growth have left us spiritually unhappier than ever, trapped by consumerism and financially bankrupt anyway. Yet the best our leaders can come up with as an answer for Norfolk is more of the very same thing that got us here in the first place. Surely it's not beyond the wit of humanity to find more enlightened measures of our progress than the extent to which we continually expand, take, spread out and consume?

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beeston bump

Monday, September 19, 2011