News on NWL Initial Views

Yes, 20 days have passed since we launched our consultation on the four shortlisted options for a Norwich Western Link and we find ourselves preparing for our final consultation event before Christmas.

This is at Fakenham's Salvation Army Church on Oak Street (NR21 9DY) tomorrow (Friday, 14 December) from 2 to 8pm. We know people are busy at this time of year, with Christmas shopping, parties and nights out competing for your attention, as well as the normal responsibilities of work, school and family. But if you do live in or near Fakenham and have an interest in our route options and what we're planning to do to improve travel between the A47 and Broadland Northway, we'd love to see you at our event tomorrow. Who knows, we might even treat you to an impromptu carol or two. Not sure that's much of an enticement...

We're holding a few events a little further afield this time following feedback from our initial consultation in the summer - the rationale being that people who travel through the area to the west of Norwich are also likely to have a keen interest in the Norwich Western Link. So as well as Fakenham tomorrow, we'll be calling in at Aylsham and Dereham in January, along with holding other events closer to where our shortlisted options are. You can see our full list of consultation events on our website .

We've had a good turnout at our events so far, we're probably averaging about 100 people at each of them. At our event in Taverham this week we were particularly pleased to have a group of students from Taverham High School come along with their teacher. They were a great bunch, really interested in the project, asking lots of questions and letting us know what they thought - you can't ask for much more than that. Thanks to them and their teacher for coming along, it was really lovely to meet you and see that you care about what's going on in your local community. You can read more about their visit on the EDP website here .

We'd love to see more students and young people at our events in the new year - we'd love to see anyone and everyone of course but there is something really nice about getting the younger generation interested in a large-scale project like the Norwich Western Link. This is something that stands to make a big difference to people in the area after all, in the shorter and longer term.

So on that note, if you're a local teacher, parent or involved in your local school community and you'd like to get your students involved in the project as it continues, we'd really like to hear from you. You can contact us on the email address at the bottom of the 'Have your say' web page on our website and we'll get back to you.

A final reminder before I wrap this up like a Christmas present - if you haven't done so already, please don't forget to respond to the current consultation on our four Norwich Western Link options via www.norfolk.gov.uk/nwl . And please spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested in telling us what they think. All the responses to the consultation will be considered when we're deciding on a preferred route for the Norwich Western Link, so it's really important to get involved now.