Mr Mayhew has been contacted by a constituent, Mr Gates, regarding the proposed dualling of the A47. Mr Gates’ full concerns are outlined below. ‘Our Community Group here at North Burlingham has been lobbying Highways England since the beginning of the A47 Dualling Consultation process for: 1) a crossing at North Burlingham giving N/S access to Lingwood, particularly to and from the Station. 2) provision of a pathway link from South Walsham Road eastwards to Acle - about 250m - to gain access to the existing (but soon to be closed) lay-by. There is an existing path from this lay-by to Acle, where there are buses, a Station and our main selection of shops. We have none at North Burlingham. ‘We now learn that HE have no intention of providing these links, but expect NCC to do this from the Community Infrastructure Fund, after the dualling is complete. ‘Have you any legal advice at your disposal that could tell us if HE is able to ignore local consultation and side-step responsibility in this way?’ Mr Gates has now received information stating that the matter is with the planning inspectorate, and would like to know whether he can make representations directly. Mr Mayhew would be grateful for your comments on the matter, as well as providing a response that addresses these concerns.

The A47 Blofield to North Burlingham application was accepted for Examination on 27 January 2021. The Inspectorate has decided that the Applicant – Highways England – has met its associated Pre-application duties, which include having due regard to the responses to Statutory Consultation (under s49 of the Planning Act 2008 (PA2008)) adequately. Now that the application has progressed into ‘Pre-examination’, the considerations of this decision, including how the Applicant conducted its Statutory Consultation, cannot be disputed. The Applicant is now required to serve notice that the application has been formally accepted, under s56 of the PA2008. This notice, amongst other things, must include details of how members of the public can register to become ‘Interested Parties’ (IP) and submit a ‘Relevant Representation’ (RR) setting out the matters the appointed ‘Examining Authority’ (the inspector or panel of inspectors who will examine the application) should consider in its Examination of the application. The Inspectorate will also publicise the notice and associated information on the project page of the National Infrastructure Planning website in due course. I therefore recommend Mr Gates is kept informed of this and other key milestones by registering for the email update feature here: attachment 1;email= Once the RR period formally opens, Mr Gates can register to become an IP and submit a RR setting out his concerns (which can include the interrelationship with any associated works to carried out by the relevant highways authority if consent is later granted). He can also expand and provide further evidence via ‘Written Representations’ and/ or oral submissions at hearings once the Examination formally commences. He may find the following Inspectorate advice notes helpful: attachment 2 attachment 3 attachment 4 attachment 5