£13.5m estimate for West Winch relief road revealed

A relief road intended to serve thousands of new homes on the edge of Lynn is likely to cost around £13 million, according to a council report.

Officials say they expect plans for the new route around West Winch to be ready by the end of next year.

And they have admitted the scale of development expected in the area cannot happen without it.

Up to 4,000 new homes are envisaged in a strategic growth area which includes both West Winch and nearby North Runcton, as part of current projections for housing development over the next two decades.

Earlier this year, Norfolk County Council confirmed it was undertaking preliminary feasibility and design work.

Although the project then suffered a setback when an application for nearly £10 million of funding was turned down, a new borough council report, which will be considered at a committee meeting next week, says work is still continuing.

It said: “Stage one of this work, looking specifically at the design and scoping of the road is currently under way.

“The current design and planning submission work is scheduled to be complete by December 2019.

“Funding to design the road and take it through planning has been secured.”

The document says county transport officials estimate the scheme will cost £13.5 million to deliver, of which around £2.3 million will cover design and planning.

Officials said the road, which is part of a wider infrastructure delivery plan, is also meant to partially relieve pressure on the existing A10 through West Winch.

The report said building there is vital for the broader development framework and not doing so could prevent the council from being able to demonstrate it has adequate supplies of housing land.

It added: “Without the new road the growth area cannot be delivered.”

Officers are now seeking the approval of draft legal agreements to accompany any future planning approvals in the area, as well as drawing up broader outline planning applications, seeking further funding from the county’s business rates pool and potentially buying up land in the area for development.

The recommendations are due to be considered by the borough council’s regeneration and development panel this Tuesday, October 30.