What's happening on site?

Ongoing and recently completed work

Reptile translocation work - this entails the rehoming of reptiles by ecologists from areas that will be affected by construction (either side of the A47) to a suitable alternative site in West Norfolk. We started this work at the beginning of April, and it has continued throughout May and will be completed once five "non-trapping days" have been recorded. The numbers of reptiles trapped and subsequently rehomed has been decreasing, but our threshold of five "non-trapping days" has not yet been reached. Fences that are already in place will remain in place until construction starts to prevent any reptiles from accessing the site.
Mobilisation has been completed at the National Gas site off Chequers Lane, with all roadworks, fencing, and security measures now in place. In addition, the traffic management plan is now operational, with instructions directing site visitors and construction traffic via the A10 to access the site.
The National Gas main works contractor has begun preparing the rest of the site in advance of the delivery of key site welfare components over the coming weeks.
To enable National Gas to carry out works safely, the Public Right of Way (PRoW) at Illington Lane will need to be closed for the duration of the works. Advanced warning notices are already in place, with the full closure coming into effect on 27 May. National Gas apologises for any inconvenience caused; however, this measure is necessary to ensure the safety of both the workforce and the public.
Tree protection fencing has been installed at the entrance to the second National Gas site off New Road, in preparation for works beginning in late May.

Upcoming work in June

Some minor site clearance work is due to be carried out to remove some low-level shrubs to the west of Sheep's Course Wood following on from the reptile translocation work. This hadn't begun at time of writing in late May, but it might begin before the end of May or in June, and should only take a few days.
Archaeological trial trenching works will take place in the area to the west of Sheep's Course Wood once the translocation and site clearance work has been completed. The aim is to identify if there are any artefacts in the ground that need to be carefully excavated before construction begins, which would help to prevent potential delays during the construction period. We anticipate this work will take a minimum of two weeks.
From the last week of May and into June, National Gas will begin mobilisation at their New Road site from the last week of May. Initial activities will include installing an access route from New Road to the main compound, located approximately 100m within the farmer's field. These works will involve constructing a new tarmac site entrance, along with associated enabling works such as modifications to existing fencing and the removal of a tree. It's not possible to retain this tree due to the restriction this would put on visibility for traffic coming out of the site access. However, National Gas are committed to providing 'Biodiversity Net Gain', whereby a construction project leaves the natural environment in a measurably better state than beforehand. So, they will take necessary steps to compensate for the loss of any trees.
At the Chequers Lane site, site establishment will be finalised during June in preparation for the start of main construction activities. This phase will involve larger deliveries to the site, which may cause temporary disruption or an increase in construction traffic on the A10 and on Chequers Lane (construction traffic has been instructed not to use the roads through the village of North Runcton).

Early notice of work further ahead

We anticipate that ground investigation works will be carried out once our design and build contractor has been appointed. This is unlikely to take place before summer 2026.
Full construction activities at National Gas's Chequers Lane site are scheduled to commence in July.
Site establishment at National Gas's New Road location will also be completed in July, with main construction works expected to begin towards the end of the month.

This page is updated regularly by the project team. It was last updated on 27 May 2026.