Image: Cawston Parish Council

The Temporary Traffic Regulation Order to restrict parking will allow the safe passage of HGVs related to the Ørsted Hornsea Three offshore wind farm project through Cawston village, along the B1145 and surrounding roads, unobstructed during working hours.

Traffic on certain sections of High Street and Chapel Street will be prohibited from parking, stopping and loading/unloading between 9 am and 6 pm (Monday–Friday only) for the duration of the work, which could last until 11 August 2028.

The traffic order specifically affects:

• B1145 High Street (northern side) from its junction with Chapel Street for 32 metres westwards;
• B1145 High Street (northern side) from 92 metres west of its junction with Chapel Street for 79 metres westwards;
• B1145 High Street (southern side) from its junction with Booton Road with for 30 metres eastwards;
• B1145 High Street (southern side) from 41 metres west of its junction with Booton Road for 60 metres westwards;
• B1145 High Street (southern side) from 102 metres west of its junction with Booton Road for 14 metres westwards;
• Chapel Street from its junction with B1145 High Street for 20 metres northwards.

The penalty for contravention of this order is a maximum fine of £1,000 and/or licence endorsement.

A temporary 20 mph speed limit through Cawston is also in force until March 2027.

The team dealing with enquiries at Norfolk County Council is North Area Streetworks (Community and Environmental Services Department), contactable by telephone 0344 800 8020 or email streetworks@norfolk.gov.uk. Details are also available HERE.

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The aim of the plan is to enable increased levels of cycling, walking and wheeling across Norfolk, helping to create a modern, well-connected transport network that gives people more alternatives to travelling by car.

Launched on 18 May, the online survey will be open for eight weeks until 13 July, asking for residents’ feedback on the suggested proposals outlined in the plan.

Online surveys will be available for each of the 20 locations outlined in the plan, as well as for improvements to the Norfolk Trails and the National Cycle Network.

To find out more and have your say click HERE.

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Some short delays to travel and intermittent noise are likely while the surveys are being carried out.

The works involve excavating in the highway and associated verge to identify utility services and are being conducted as part of the council’s Norwich Western Link project. The works are due to start on Monday 27 March.

A1067 Fakenham Road and Broadland Northway/Fakenham Road roundabout

From Monday 27 March to Wednesday 29 March, a short section of one lane of the A1067 Fakenham Road near to the Broadland Northway roundabout will be subject to a single-lane closure with two-way lights to protect workers carrying out the surveys between 8 am on 27 March until 5 pm on 29 March. Traffic will be controlled by temporary traffic lights and some short delays are likely.

Then from Thursday 30 March to Friday 31 March, the surveys will be centred on the roundabout that connects Broadland Northway to the A1067 and short sections of the approaches. This will also involve a single-lane closure to protect workers carrying out the surveys between 8 am on 30 March until 5 pm on 31 March. Some short delays are likely.

Weston Road, Ringland Lane and The Broadway

Each of these roads between Weston Longville and Ringland will be closed to through traffic at different times. Works are scheduled as follows:

• Weston Road closed from 8 am on Wednesday 5 April to 5 pm on Thursday 6 April.
• Ringland Lane closed from 8 am on Tuesday 11 April to 5 pm on Wednesday 12 April.
• The Broadway closed from 8 am on Thursday 13 April to 5 pm on Friday 21 April.

The road closures will be in place from 8 am on the first day and are due to remain in place for the duration of the surveys, finishing no later than 5 pm on the final stated day.

However, there may be an opportunity to finish the surveys early and remove the road closures sooner.

Access to properties will be maintained and a signed diversion route will be in place throughout the road closures.

For further information contact: Norwich Western Link project team 0344 800 8020 or norwichwesternlink@norfolk.gov.uk

The Norwich Western Link is a new 3.9-mile dual carriageway road that would connect the A1270 Broadland Northway to the A47 west of Norwich.

As well as improving travel between these two major routes, the new road would tackle traffic congestion and delays on the local road network and in communities, and prevent them from worsening due to planned housing and job growth in Greater Norwich, says Norfolk County Council.

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Residents posting on Facebook commented on the dangers now posed by inconsiderate parking, with one criticising “lazy” parents who live in Reepham and brought their car to do the school run, parking on the children’s play area on Sun Barn Road.

“I have witnessed cars driving up from the bottom to the top [of the play area] even when children are playing there,” he said. “They have damaged the area, making it unsafe to play on, causing trip hazards where their wheels have dug into the grass.”

Another local resident, Simon, Nelson, who has been in touch with the town and county councils, the police and the local MP about the safety issue, said: “The town council has been most helpful but their hands are tied to an extent.

“All that can be done currently is to report any awful parking/near misses to the school as we are collecting as much evidence of irresponsible driving/parking to highlight the issues.

“I’m still working on getting all relevant parties to meet and witness the schooltime ‘carnage’.”

Meanwhile, Reepham Town Council is lobbying Norfolk Highways to reinstate the crossing patrol person outside the primary school and/or install a zebra crossing.

Town council clerk Kirsty Cotgrove confirmed that she had received more than a dozen complaints in recent weeks concerning road safety outside the school.

The traffic issue is likely to get worse with the relocation of the nursery school to the primary school as well as the recent planning approval for 141 residential homes on nearby Broomhill Lane, which is expected to increase traffic on School Road in the longer term.

Stuart Beadle, district councillor for Reepham, said an improved crossing outside the primary school was part of the planning application for the housing development.

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To allow the work to be carried out safely and swiftly it will be necessary to close the road to through traffic on a couple of dates when the surfacing is under way and line painting is being carried out. Access to properties will be maintained at all times.

The work, which is weather dependent, will be carried out in phases with any road closures only in place for a number of hours at a time on the following dates:

• Saturday 14 May (surface dressing);
• Tuesday 24 May (road marking replacement), overnight from 7 pm.

A fully signed diversion route will be in operation for the duration of the works. Norfolk County Council thanks people for their patience while this essential road maintenance work is carried out.

The work, which will cost £18,000, will be carried out by the county council’s Community and Environmental Services Department and its contractor, Tarmac and Kier Highway Services.

The alternative route is via: B1145 Cawston Road/High Street/Aylsham Road, B1149 Holt Road/Brewery Lane, A1270 Broadland Northway, A1067 Fakenham Road/Norwich Road/Sparham Hill/Main Road, B1145 Norwich Road/Reepham Road/Bawdeswell Road/Dereham Road/Station Road (Felthorpe, Sparham, Reepham, Great Witchingham, Haveringland, Weston Longville, Morton on the Hill, Attlebridge, Hevingham, Bawdeswell, Horsford, Taverham, Stratton Strawless, Cawston, Salle, Drayton).

The person dealing with enquiries at Norfolk County Council is Vinnie Purdy, Community and Environmental Services. Tel: 0344 800 8020.

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The blind corner at the bottom of Broomhill Lane. Photo: Helen Lindsay

Helen Lindsay of Hackford Vale has written to both the town and county councils, complaining of repeated damage caused to her fence by drivers of off-road vehicles using Back Lane.

This is an unclassified road that extends from Whitwell Station to the extension of Broomhill Lane and out onto the B1145, and which is maintained by Norfolk County Council.

Ms Lindsay has asked the town council to make a formal request to the county council for reclassification of the track, which she says is suitable only for pedestrians, horses and bicycles – not vehicles. She has also contacted Broadland MP Jerome Mayhew for support.

The off-road vehicle pastime, in which “green laners”, as well as motorbike riders, use dirt tracks, narrow lanes and winding country roads categorised as “byways open to all traffic” is legal and not prohibited by law.

However, Ms Lindsay said green lane drivers frequently use the track in convoys of 6–8 cars that travel at “excessive speed”, posing a risk to the safety of other users, particularly around a blind corner.

“I have observed a couple of near misses when children walked round the bend just minutes before the ‘green laners’ came round it,” she told the councils.

“They are also causing significant damage to my property. The fence posts along the track have been knocked over, broken and generally destroyed until there are few left. I have repaired them, but they just get damaged again.”

Ms Lindsay said that when she has tried to speak to the drivers they are “extremely rude and swear at me as they drive past”.

She has not been able to obtain their vehicle registration numbers as these are often covered. In addition, the off-road vehicles usually travel early in the morning or in the evening “and go by so fast, close to one another, that it is difficult to see the registration numbers.

“They are also causing damage to the ancient hedgerow and banks of the track,” said Ms Lindsay, “and they make deep ruts in the mud in winter.”

According to a Norfolk County Council spokesperson, the only ways to restrict a class of traffic from using certain routes would be to either change the classification of the route or to prevent traffic via a Traffic Regulation Order (the latter is generally designed to maximise safe traffic flow); both these requests usually come via town/parish councils.

However, owing to the concerns raised, the county council said it will carry out a “reactive inspection” of the road.

It is understood that this issue will be on the agenda at the next meeting of Reepham Town Council on Wednesday 13 October.

See our earlier story:

• Campaign to ban vehicles from green lane

The post Green lane drivers are a danger to other users and property’ appeared first on REEPHAM LIFE.

The alternative route is via: Church Hill, Market Place, B1145 Station Road, New Road, The Moor, Norwich Road.

The person dealing with enquiries at Norfolk County Council is Martin Dixon (Community and Environmental Services). Tel: 0344 800 8020.

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Cllr Peck received 1,388 votes with 49.3% (up from 44.2% in 2017), ahead of Liberal Democrat Sue Catchpole (893 votes, 31.8%), Green Party’s Sarah Morgan (310 votes, 11%) and Labour’s Tom Rednall (222 votes, 7.9%). The turnout was 40.9% (41.5% in 2017).

The Conservatives increased their control on the 84-seat county council after winning 58 seats, a gain of six, followed by Labour with 11, a drop of four, eight for the Liberal Democrats, three for the Greens and three Independents. (One seat – Sewell in Norwich – which is currently held by Labour, will be contested in June.)

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Fox and Hounds Lane (shown in orange) is classified as an unsurfaced road. Image: Birgit Griem/Reclaim the Lane

A community group has now launched a crowdfunding campaign to reclassify Fox and Hounds Lane to permanently ban all motorised vehicles, especially 4×4 vehicles, from it, so that it is again usable by walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

The group held a socially distanced meeting on the site last September. Calling itself Reclaim the Lane, it aims to raise £8,500 to cover legal costs associated with the reclassification process – more than £3,600 has already been raised.

Some repairs have started on the unsurfaced road and will continue once the lane has dried out. Further repairs will be carried out later in the year, after the initial repairs have had a chance to settle.

The fundraising page is available HERE

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The candidates are:

• Sue Catchpole (Liberal Democrat);
• Sarah Morgan (Green)
• Greg Peck (Conservative)
• Tom Rednall (Labour)

Mr Peck, cabinet member for commercial services and asset management, won the seat from the Liberal Democrats in May 2017 with 44% of the vote, ahead of Lib Dem Stuart Beadle with 28%, followed by Labour’s Ruth Goodall (22%) and UKIP’s Paul Brock (6%).

Ms Catchpole is deputy leader of the Lib Dems on Broadland District Council where she represents Aylsham, while Mr Rednall is switching from contesting the Acle division in the 2017 county council election.

Ms Morgan, a veterinary surgeon living in Reepham, contested the Broadland local election for the town in 2019.

All 84 seats at Norfolk County Council are being contested.

The council’s current political composition is Conservatives 52, Labour 16, Liberal Democrats nine, Independent three, Independent (non-aligned) one, non-aligned one and two vacancies.

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