Council pulls £274m road scheme over bats row

Norfolk County Council has withdrawn its planning application for the £274m Norwich Western Link road amid an ongoing row with Natural England over protected bats.
The government conservation advisory body decided to confer “favourable conservation status” on Barbastelle bats in the region last March just days before the application was due to be submitted.
The council has been trying to reach a solution with Natural England ever since but has now “exhausted all options.&