Your questions answered

Will the new road be finished before the houses are built?

Given where the road is in its development compared to the housing proposals, it is highly likely that the road will be finished and open for use before any housing is ready to be occupied. Even if there were any delays to the road, there is an agreement in place that no more than 300 homes can be developed with access via the existing A10.

How much disruption will be caused during the construction period?

We will try to limit disruption wherever possible and expect our contractor to be a 'good neighbour' while they are on site.

While most of the new road is being built away from the existing road network, there will be times when construction will need to take place on or close to local roads, the A47 and the Hardwick Junction. So there is likely to be some unavoidable disruption to journeys at times.

Once our contractor has been appointed, they will start to consider how they will manage this and we will provide more information about this once the details are confirmed.

Will the road still be built if there's no clear timeline for when the housing will be developed?

Yes, the West Winch Strategic Growth Area has been identified as a site for the creation of up to 4,000 homes in the Local Plan and planning approval has been granted for 1,110 of those homes. While work to build the first houses is probably still some way off, it's important that we continue to make good progress with delivering the road so that it's open for use in advance of most of the housing being complete.

How much will the road cost and who is funding it?

We anticipate the project will cost £121.75 million. Most of this - £91.1 million - will come from the Department for Transport and a further £25.15 million will be provided by Homes England, the Government's housing and regeneration agency. They will get £14.65 million of this back from the housing developers who will build homes on the site.

There will also be an anticipated local contribution of £5.5 million, which will come from Norfolk County Council and the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, or the relevant unitary authority/authorities following local government reorganisation.

What impact will local government reorganisation have on the project?

On current timetables, work to construct the housing access road is due to be underway by the time the new unitary arrangements come into existence in May 2028. We will need to monitor how local government reorganisation plans develop and ensure the project is taken into account in these plans.

How can you be confident that through traffic will use the housing access road?

We will put in various measures on the current A10 through West Winch to make that route less attractive to through traffic. This will include a lower speed limit, a weight restriction for HGVs, three signalised crossings across the road and bus stops on the road, rather than in laybys.

Will the road and the growth area lead to improved local bus services?

The housing access road will offer an additional route for bus services, improving local connectivity. The increase in demand from the housing growth will also help to improve the viability of existing services and strengthen the case for additional routes or services.

The reduction in traffic along the existing A10 as it passes through West Winch will improve bus journey times and reliability.

We will continue to work with bus operators throughout the development of the road and the housing growth area to develop and improve bus services.

How will water be drained from the road surface?

The surface water drainage proposals for the new road will be designed to minimise impacts on existing water courses and avoid making any existing local drainage issues worse.

We will create drainage basins that are designed to retain water during heavy or prolonged periods of rainfall. It's likely these will be in areas of grassland.

These sustainable drainage systems for the new road will be used to avoid making any existing drainage issues worse.

What will you do to improve the local environment and limit the impact of the road?

We will ensure that, wherever possible, existing landscape features will be retained and protected. This includes features such as trees and hedgerows.

The project will also include the introduction of new features that support the species found in the area and complement the character of the local landscape. The detail of this hasn't been finalised yet but it's likely to include wetland habitats, woodland, mixed grassland, hedgerows and trees.

In delivering this project, we are required to achieve at least 10% biodiversity net gain. This means we will seek to improve biodiversity as a result of the project compared with the existing situation.

We will also seek to minimise the carbon impacts from construction. We will consider re-using appropriate materials, recycling as much as possible. We will use locally sourced materials where possible to minimise transportation. Consideration will given to the use of machinery and equipment in order to reduce impacts from the fuels required to run them.

Where possible we will screen the road from the surrounding landscape to reduce its visual impact. We also expect to see similar measures from housing developers as their proposals come forward.

How do I contact the project team?

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