Council welcomes Government decision regarding western link capital funding

Norfolk County Council has received confirmation the Government has formally approved the Council's capitalisation direction in respect of the Norwich Western Link on Friday 20 February 2026.

The decision means the Council can now apply the capital grant previously received towards the write off of expenditure incurred in developing the scheme prior to the insurmountable issues raised by Natural England, which ultimately prevented the project from proceeding in its original form.

This confirmation removes a key area of financial uncertainty for the Council and provides clarity about the impact of costs already incurred.

Cllr Andrew Jamieson, Deputy Leader of Norfolk County Council and Cabinet Member for Finance, said: "I welcome this common sense decision by the Government. It relates to a technical but important accounting issue and removes a significant financial risk for the Council. Crucially, it now allows us to focus our efforts on developing an alternative scheme for this vital infrastructure, ensuring we continue to address congestion and connectivity challenges for residents and businesses in and around Norwich."

The capitalisation direction was required due to a technical accounting issue, arising from a mismatch between the revenue write off required following the decision not to proceed with the original plan for the Norwich Western Link, and the capital grant that had previously been received from Government to support development of the proposed scheme.

As a result of the direction, the write off of abortive costs will be reflected in the Council's 2024-25 Statement of Accounts, and enables these to be resolved without placing additional pressure on the Council's revenue budget.

Norfolk County Council will now continue work on identifying and developing an alternative route and solution to meet the objectives of the Norwich Western Link proposal.