Great Yarmouth’s much needed Third River Crossing is set to take an important step next week as Norfolk County Councillors are asked to approve making a bid for £965,000 from the Department for Transport (DfT) to take the scheme forward.
Senior Norfolk County Council and Great Yarmouth Borough Council members met this week and reconfirmed their support to push ahead with the new lifting bridge which will make a direct link into the town from the south providing a link between the trunk road network and the expanding port and South Denes Enterprise Zone sites.
On Friday 20 May councillors on Norfolk County Council’s Environment, Development and Transport Committee are set to approve submission of a £965,000 bid to the DfT seeking funding for scheme development work which will help take the project to the stage where government would be able to confirm if they are willing to support further funding for delivery. It is expected that final approval and further funding from the DfT could come in four years’ time with an estimated start date being in 2021.
Cllr Martin Wilby, the newly elected Chairman of the Environment, Development and Transport Committee, who met Cllr Graham Plant of the borough council this week, said: “This is an issue that unites councillors of all political parties as the Third River Crossing would be a huge benefit for Yarmouth, Norfolk and nationally bringing prosperity and reducing journey times and congestion in the town.
“It’s estimated the new bridge would cost approximately £140m to construct and the county council is keen to see the government support the scheme as a key continuation of infrastructure improvements to Great Yarmouth and the A47, and to provide the money to take this vital project forward.”
The project has strong support in Norfolk from bodies including Norfolk County Council, Norfolk Chamber, New Anglia LEP, Great Yarmouth Borough Council. County councillors meeting next week will hear that the county council has already undertaken extensive work identifying a strong case for the bridge. It has recently committed £60,000 towards developing the work so that the bid to DfT presents a compelling case to government.
Caroline Williams, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chamber said: “Connectivity is vitally important to businesses in Norfolk and in particular those in Great Yarmouth. A third river crossing will help to improve that connectivity and create thousands of new jobs, improve links across the town and to the rest of the region and reduce congestion. All of which will save businesses time and money, whilst allowing them to increase economic growth.”
Cllr Graham Plant, the Leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council said: “Great Yarmouth is world-renowned as England’s offshore energy sector capital, in line to share in billions of pounds of private investment over coming decades, including in offshore windfarms and gas platform decommissioning. Linking the Port, new deep-water Outer Harbour and Enterprise Zone to the trunk road network will further boost the UK’s prospects and prosperity, ensuring we are better placed to capture these jobs and investment for the nation.”
