Planning to dual the critical section of the A11 from Thetford to the Fiveways roundabout is entering its final, and critical, phase. Tomorrow, the inspector appointed to hear the Public Inquiry will conduct the pre-inquiry meeting. This will deal with the nuts and bolts of the inquiry - we will be there.
The story so far is that we have long ago agreed that this is a road proposal that will bring significant benefits to the region. The A11 runs though parts of the Brecks that are designated as a Special Protection Area because of the importance of Breckland for stone curlews (see A Day to Remember, posted on 10 September). Stone curlews are very sensitive to disturbance and in order to ensure that we get the best outcome for them, we have objected to the proposal. We have been working hard for months to ensure that the impact of the road on these special birds is fully mitigated and we are nearly, but not quite, there.
Following some detailed work over the last few weeks we are now close to agreeing the scale of the impact and what can be done about it (to the benefit of stone curlews and the road proposal). Once we have the right binding agreement in place we will be in a position to withdraw our objection - that is our preferred outcome. We'll set this out at tomorrow's pre-inquiry meeting.
The high news-profile of this proposal makes it likely that tomorrow's meeting will get coverage. The appetite for conflict might seek to set developer against conservationist, stone curlews against the prosperity of the East of England. This has been the tone of some coverage recently - good copy but a long way from the urgent work that's underway to ensure that we get to a resolution, and avoid the need to go to a public inquiry. Will we do it? I hope so, you'll be among the first to know!