Norfolk council accused of 'downplaying' road's trees impact

The ecologist whose research led to the designation of ancient woodland on the road's route slammed the council's surveys of trees.

But Norfolk County Council insists they were done to appropriate standards.

Drayton-based tree specialist John Allaway warned at least 25,000 trees would have to be chopped down to make way for the 3.9-mile road.

John Allaway (Image: Chantal Duval)

Mr Allaway, who has objected to County Hall's plans for the road, which would connect the Northern Distributor Road to the A47 near Honingham, said the council's tree surveys were "extremely poor".

He said: "They fail to recognise, or severely underplay the significance of, numerous arboricultural features."

He said survey material was out of date and gave the impression of "a desk 'survey' consisting of viewing Google Earth aerial images and guessing the species".

Mr Allaway accused the council of trivialising the quantity of affected trees, misrepresenting how much woodland would be lost and misidentifying species of trees.

An artist's visualisation of the proposed Norwich Western Link (Image: Norfolk County Council)

He said: "As a whole, the application's supporting documents create an impression of a scheme which would have a fairly low arboricultural impact.

"The number of trees affected is minimised beyond any realistic measure.

"The few references to the loss of woodland seem to have been deliberately worded to gloss over the fact very large areas of woodland and tens of thousands of trees would be destroyed if this scheme were ever to proceed."

READ MORE: Norwich Western Link is a 'zombie project' claim critics

Mr Allaway's own research recently led to North Wood being identified and designated as ancient woodland. The land is owned by a private landowner and is on the route of the road.

North Wood (Image: Iain Robinson)

That is another potential stumbling block for the scheme and follows objections from Natural England - because of rare barbastelle bats - and the Environment Agency.

Barbastelle bats roost in woodland near the proposed road (Image: C. Packman)

A council spokeswoman said: "The proposals for the Norwich Western Link have been developed in accordance with statutory processes and industry guidance and best practice.

"The planning application documents demonstrate the extensive ecological surveys carried out by the project team to understand the existing habitat and species found in the vicinity of the proposed route of the Norwich Western Link, and how we are taking account of this."

CHARITY URGES GOVERNMENT TO DECIDE ROAD'S FATE

The government has been urged to intervene, to take the decision over the fate of the £274m Norwich Western Link out of the hands of county councillors.

Conservative-controlled Norfolk County Council has applied to its own planning committee for permission for the controversial road.

The council says it is needed to reduce congestion, boost the economy and stop rat-running, while it has been backed by business leaders, including the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce.

But Norfolk Wildlife Trust, which has objected to the scheme, has written to deputy prime minister Angela Rayner asking that she uses her powers to call-in the application.

Angela Rayner (Image: PA)

The wildlife trust was part of a campaign against the road, which it said resulted in more than 4,600 objections against the road being submitted to the county council.

Eliot Lyne, chief executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust (Image: Newsquest)

Eliot Lyne, the trust's chief executive, said: "We have no objection to sustainable development where wildlife is not adversely affected.

"However, the current proposal is objectively extremely damaging to wildlife."

A call-in is where the secretary of state takes over the determination of a planning application, rather than letting the council make that decision.

A planning inspector is appointed, who holds meetings to hear evidence and then makes a recommendation.

The secretary of state gets the final say and can agree with, or ignore, that recommendation.

The county council is still considering all the responses to the planning application, with no date set for when its planning committee would consider the scheme.