The New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (NALEP) recently consulted members of the West Norfolk Chamber Council on the pre-consultation draft of their Plan for Growth. Having reviewed the Plan, the West Norfolk Chamber Council highlighted the following areas that they would like to see the NALEP consider within their Plan for Growth:-
- Improvements to the A47 are seen as vital by West Norfolk businesses to assist economic growth. However they voiced their concern that any improvements would put further constraints on the existing bottleneck routes around King’s Lynn. They asked for these concerns to be taken into consideration when planning the improvements to the A47. One suggestion was for an additional river crossing to ease congestion around King’s Lynn.
- One of the most congested rail routes from Norfolk to London is the King’s Lynn to Kings Cross line and they would like to see equal emphasis placed on this route, as well as the Norwich to London Liverpool Street line.
- Tourism for West Norfolk depends on good roads and good communications, however improving these aspects may have a detrimental effect on the very thing that attracts the tourists. The West Norfolk Chamber Council sought reassurances from the NALEP that the character of the region would not be lost due to growth, whilst benefitting from improved roads and communication links.
The NALEP advised that they would take the above comments into consideration when revising their Growth Plan, which will go out for wider consultation at the beginning of April.
