Norwich: Councillors walk out of 'farce' roads meeting

The "unacceptably dangerous" Heartsease roundabout is close to a busy parade of shops and businesses

A meeting to discuss major road plans was dramatically halted after councillors refused to continue without the committee chairman present.

The Transport for Norwich Advisory Committee was due to look at several projects, including the city's "dangerous" Heartsease roundabout.

The chairman, Conservative county councillor Graham Plant, was replaced by fellow Tory Lana Hempsall.

But two Labour members walked out of the council chamber after 10 minutes.

They claimed a final say or cross-examination on the issues could not be made with Mr Plant - who was attending a funeral - present.

Labour's Mike Sands and Ian Stutely said that without him, there could be no direct exchange or input, "making a farce of the whole meeting."

"The purpose of having the cabinet member for transport on the committee is so that the cabinet member can directly participate in discussions, and be questioned on things - and in turn ask questions," said Mr Sands.

'Unacceptably dangerous'

Among the issues up for discussion were the Heartsease Fiveways roundabout in Norwich, which had seen 33 reported accidents between 2011 and 2022, with at least 15 cyclists and eight pedestrians injured.

A proposed £4.4m scheme includes one-lane entry and exit, and pedestrian and cycle crossings on each arm.

Mr Plant said recently that the site was "unacceptably dangerous".

The proposals were supposed to have been considered at the transport for Norwich advisory committee on Wednesday, before going to Mr Plant, the cabinet member for highways, for a decision to proceed.

The meeting was expected to be rearranged for July.

Funding will primarily come from the £32m Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) awarded to Norwich by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2020.

The advisory committee replaced the joint highways committee several years ago.