Deprivation and poor transport: are people in West Norfolk treated as 'second class'?
That's the claim from a local councillor - who says the west of the county gets a raw deal
The people of west Norfolk are treated as “second-class citizens” compared with those elsewhere in the county, it has been claimed.
Chris Morley, a member of West Norfolk Borough Council, said those living in his area fared worse than those further east when it came to health provision and economic opportunities.
He blamed this on attitudes at Norwich-based Norfolk County Council, which he implied prioritised those living in areas nearing the city.
He suggested west Norfolk would be wealthier and healthier if the borough was more closely integrated with bordering Cambridgeshire, cutting some of its ties with the rest of Norfolk.
Mr Morley, an independent councillor, made the comments at a Tuesday borough council meeting, after asking a question about transport links.
He said: “Working better with Cambridge is essential for our future, and as some may argue that the wealth, health and integrated care for west Norfolk would prove to have a better outcome if we were integrated with Cambridge and Peterborough rather than second-class citizens in the corridors of County Hall at Norwich.”
He said that King’s Lynn should increase its connections with Cambridge, by improving transport links to the city, adding the relationship between the two urban centres was “where we want to grow” and saying it offered “a much better proposition for us than being dependent upon Norwich”.
While he admitted he had no economic or health data to hand to support his perception, he said there was “no doubt” west Norfolk would benefit from closer integration with Addenbrookes Hospital and the Cambridge Science Park.
He added however that the west was “emotionally” part of Norfolk and would not want to give up that part of its identity.
Another independent councillor, Alun ‘Tom’ Ryves, agreed that Cambridge offered better opportunities for Lynn than Norwich, saying: “Our economic future lies more with Cambridge and the south than it does with Norwich and the east.”
And the council’s independent opposition leader, Terry Parish, added: “I can see the logic in it, in that west Norfolk is a slice of Norfolk with connections south and west really, rather than towards Norwich.”
As a tongue-in-cheek aside, Mr Parish said Norwich was “a foreign place” to the west.
The council’s Conservative leader Stuart Dark – himself a county councillor – responded to Mr Morley on Tuesday, defending County Hall’s attitude to west Norfolk.
“I think some of the investment and interest that we can see around the Town Deal Board and the money that’s coming in, the way that they are working now with us on various projects, I wouldn’t agree with that ‘second-class citizens to them’, because we’ve got good links,” he said.
“We’ve always had good links, but they’re now even better, and there’s more interest coming this way, and I’ll be pushing for that all the time.”
And Norfolk County Council’s Conservative leader Andrew Proctor said: “Councillor Dark was spot on with his comments that the borough and county councils are working closely together.
“This is what both authorities want to do so that collectively we can deliver the projects and support that the borough council wants as a part of the county council’s strategy Better Together for Norfolk.”
Analysis: A world apart?
In terms of its public transport links, west Norfolk is certainly better connected south than east.
Despite being Norfolk’s second-biggest settlement, King’s Lynn has no direct rail link with Norwich.
Even the fastest bus service between the two travels down the un-dualled A47 road, stopping at Swaffham and several villages, and taking some 95 minutes.
Cambridge can meanwhile be reached in almost half that time – 53 minutes – by train from King’s Lynn, and in just 39 minutes from Downham Market.
According to deprivation data from 2019, the picture is not as simple as the west being less prosperous than the rest of the county.
While parts of King’s Lynn do indeed score highly on the index of multiple deprivation, significantly higher scores – indicating more deprivation – can be found in Great Yarmouth, and similar scores to King’s Lynn can be found in Norwich itself.
But it is also true that consistently low deprivation is found in the ring of countryside surrounding Norwich, suggesting that those able to easily commute into the city are better off.