Norfolk and Norwich Thread

[nuhouse]

NORWICH

Updated 19th December 2007

With a burst of activity in the late 90s and early to mid 2000s with places like the Forum, the Riverside development and the Chapelfield shopping mall going up things appeared to have slowed down over the past couple of years, but there's a couple of new projects in the works for Norwich as well as some things in the pipeline for the future.


Anglia Square/Calvert Square



http://www.calvertsquare.co.uk/

£100m Redevelopment, turning Anglia Square the 1960s shopping centre into Calvert Square, including new housing, office developments, restaurants, cafes and a new supermarket which will help regenerate the north side of the City centre.

Current Timetable:

Consultation process: 12th – 26th October 2007
Planning application: To be submitted November/December 2007
Archaeological dig: Mid-2008
Demolition work: Starts mid-2008 (provisionally)
Construction work: 2009 – 2011
Completion/opening date: Late 2011


St James Development



Just off Barrack Street on the site of the old Jarrold printing works this new £50m mixed use development will include 200 new homes, 20,500 sq m of office space including offices for DEFRA and the Broads Authority built to a high eco standard, restaurants, cafes, shops, a new hotel as well as a new bridge and cycle path next to the river.

Deal Ground and Utilities Site



On the south side of Norwich near Norwich City football club and the Broads, this 20 hectare site is currently under consideration by Norwich city council for a number of large projects including a 200 boat marina, concert hall, new housing and new office and retail space. It is thought a decision should be made about the site within the immediate future.

Harford Place





www.harfordplacenorwich.com

£125m project in the south of the city on the site of a former shoe factory which will include a new art centre, shops, health club, bingo hall and large supermarket. Project should be completed by 2010 pending approval from the city council.

Dukes Wharf



http://www.dukeswharfnorwich.co.uk/

£60m development on the site of the old Eastern Electricity offices just outside the City Centre on Duke Street. The development will include Office space, Apartments, a Riverside walkway, Resturants and Cafes and a new Art Gallery. Project to start in 2008 pending approval from the City Council.

St Mary's Works



http://www.stmarysworks.co.uk/

St Mary's Works is a planned development on the current site of St Mary's House and the surrounding land on Duke street/St Crispin's road. If approved it will include a 220-bedroom 4 star Hotel, Apartments and Offices.

YARMOUTH

Updated 13th December 2007

East Port



http://www.eastportuk.co.uk/

New £45m outer harbour being built in Great Yarmouth due to be completed in 2009. The port will handle cargo containers as well as serving ferry destinations in northern Europe. It should create 1,000 new jobs and bring an extra 120,000 people to the area.

The Edge



New £35m Leisure complex between the Pleasure Beach and the outer harbour containing a casino, cinema, bowling alley, hotel, restaurants and bars. Currently in the intial stages and undergoing public consultation.

[nuhouse]

Recently completed projects in Norwich:

Norwich Theatre Royal Refurbishment



£10 million refurbishment of the 1300 seat Theatre Royal Norwich.

Cinema City





Redevelopment of Cinema City, Norwich's art house cinema. Closed in 2003 and finished last month. Now contains 3 screens, bigger bar and lounge areas and digital projection.

Norwich Market







£5m refurbishment of Norwich Market in 2006. It's the largest open air market in the country.

[nuhouse]

Another project announced today in the south of Norwich:

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/conte...A27%3A04%3A640

The people of Norwich have given their backing to ambitious multi-million pound plans to regenerate a part of the city which has been underused for years.

Property investment and development company Targetfollow wants to carry out a major £125million regeneration of its three sites on Hall Road, the former Bally shoe factory and T Gill & Son sites and the existing Hall Road Retail Park.

The 21-acre development, called Harford Place, will include a new art centre, health club, bingo hall, children's play area, more than 1,000 car parking spaces and a large supermarket and aims to revitalise the southern part of the city.

Exact details about the new project are being unveiled this week in a series of public meetings in the former shop unit of the Bally shoe factory on Hall Road, Norwich,

And high praise was given to the proposals by those visiting the opening night exhibition yesterday who said the area was crying out for the new development.

Janice Rose, 62, from Tuckswood, said: “From the plans it looks like the Riverside, which would great for this area, it seems funny we would be having something like that here, but the plans as they are very good, if they keep to those, the development will be good for the area. I do think they need to address the idea of having a health centre to cope with the extra people though.”

Arthur and Karen Baker from Hall Road also supported the new development.

Mr Baker, 71, who lives opposite the proposed development said: “I think it is a brilliant idea, I would certainly rather look across at the new buildings they are proposing than the factory site which is here now.”

Mrs Baker added: “It will be nice to have somewhere to shop away from the city and which is right on our doorstep, I am a little concerned if there were any late night opening, but in all I think it will totally rejuvenate the area.”

Members of the public are being asked to complete suggestions forms, being given out at the exhibitions, so their comments can be taken on board. People can also make their views known via the website, www.harfordplacenorwich.com.

One of those giving positive praise to the scheme on his suggestion form, was Nigel Leggett, 49, has lived in Hall Road for six years.

He said: “Having come here and seen the plans, I cannot honestly say anything against it. This is exactly what this site needs, it could not carry on as it was, I think the development is going to kick-start the regeneration of the area and I support it all the way.”

Martin Pearce, 25, a petrol worker from Thorpe St Andrew, said he was excited at the prospect of having an arts centre in the complex. A keen photographer, he liked the layout of the curved roof which is proposed for the arts building.

He said: “In principle I support the development, there are a few things I am worried about, but the fact there will be an arts centre here is great for this part of the city.”

Husband and wife, Jill, and Ernie Stocks from Tuckswood have lived in the area for 50 years and say the development would be a welcome addition to the area.

Mrs Stocks, 70, said: “We have never had anything like this on our side of the city, it is something completely new, it is good we are finally being recognised.”

Mr Stocks, 73, agreed and said the development would be good for families.

He said: “We need something like this here, something that is out of the city, where we can go, where families can be together, if it saves me a trip into the city, I will be glad.”

The exhibitions will continue today from 10am to 6pm and on Saturday from 10am to 1pm.

The proposals, which also include part of the existing Hall Road Retail Park and former T Gill & Sons site, will go before Norwich City Council in spring 2008, and if approved, are due for completion in spring 2010.

[nuhouse]

Sadly a new eco-town which was proposed for Coltishall near Norwich on the site of the former Airbase will no longer go ahead and will instead be used to build one of the governments new prisons. Definately a wasted opportunity:

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/conte...A29%3A47%3A667

RAF Coltishall: Special Report

DAVID BALE
07 December 2007 07:00

After months of uncertainty the government has finally announced that the former RAF Coltishall airbase will become a prison. This means a raft of previously mooted ideas, including an eco-town, business park and immigration centre will now not see light of day. Reporter David Bale visited the Norfolk village to see what people thought of the plans.



For the past 18 months the people of Coltishall have waited with baited breath for final confirmation of what will become of its 750-acre former RAF base.

A massive housing development, waste incinerator, homes for migrant workers, business park and even an eco-town have all been mooted since the sale of the site was revealed last year.

At one point it even appeared likely a detention centre for immigrants would be built there, much to the distaste of families living in the area.

But at last the future of the site appears clearer. Subject to planning permission a category C jail will open within the next few years as part of the government's latest bid to end the long-running crisis in Britain's over-crowded prisons.

As news of the decision spread through the village there were mixed emotions amongst its 1,500-plus inhabitants.

One the one hand many were pleased proposals for an immigration centre will not now materialise.

However, ultimately there was a feeling that the government's decision marked an opportunity wasted.

With the government keen to set up eco-towns in the country as part of its drive to be greener, many would have like to have seen the proposed £9m green development given the go-ahead.

The ambitious scheme by Norfolk developer Richard Davies would have brought with it hundreds of green homes, jobs, an electric bus link and a new broad.

Others, meanwhile, viewed the development as the chance to bring some more investment to the county.

John Harding, chairman of Coltishall Parish Council, said he did not want either an immigration centre or a prison on the site.

He said: “Personally, I think it's a shame to see the site deteriorating, and while something has got to be done, I would ideally have rather seen houses and businesses there.”

His views were echoed by Robin Hewitt, 50, owner of E Hewitt butchers, who said: “At the end of the day the government is going to do what it wants whatever we say. I would have liked to have seen it stay as an airforce base in the first place.”

William Dower, 86, from Horstead, had more reason than most for feeling sad to see the airbase close last year, as he was stationed there for three years in the early 1950s.

He said: “I think the prison is the lesser of two evils. It's better than having an immigration centre there.

“I really don't know what I would have liked to have seen there, but obviously I would like to see them use it for something.

“After serving there I was sad to see it close. It's a bit of a wasted opportunity that an eco-town is not being built there. But having lived on the site I would have been concerned at the problem with roads in the area. They would have had to improve the road system.”

Others were simply pleased that at last a final decision had been made.

Barry Thorpe, a baker at Londis, said: “In a way I'm pleased they are finally doing something there, but it's a bit of a wasted opportunity. Ideally, I would have like to have seen houses built there. I can see the company selling the old MoD houses there having more of a struggle to sell them now.”

In recent months dozens of families have moved into the former MoD homes on the edge of the old airbase, taking advantage of some generously low house prices and tempting extra offers to help them get a foot on the housing ladder.

Many of them were not happy to hear that they would soon be living within spitting distance of a brand new prison.

Anne Huckle, 34, who works as an activities instructor at Whitlingham Outdoor Centre in Trowse, said: “I'm not very happy about it. We thought it was going to be turned into an eco-town which would have been good.”

Dawn Sykes, 34, was the second person to move into the old MoD homes after queuing when they came up for sale earlier this year.

She said: “It does not bother me as much as if it had been an immigration centre, but I would have liked to have seen an eco-town. It's a bit of a waste and, ideally, I would rather have seen it stay as a military camp. But my sister lives near Blundeston prison in Suffolk, and she said she's never had any trouble there.”

A spokeswoman for Annington, the company behind the Annington Fields MoD development at the airbase, said it thought the plans would have minimal impact on house prices in the area.

She said: “We believe it will have minimal impact on the prices or the demand for the former married quarter homes, which are all located off the former base.

“We have successfully sold over 100 homes on the site this year and buyers were clearly not deterred by the previous rumours of an immigration centre. We are still getting a lot of interest in the homes and in the last few weeks, despite speculation about a prison, we have still sold a number of homes.”

Announcing the decision on Wednesday, Mr Straw said it was part of a national prisons review designed to bring an additional 10,500 prison places into use by 2014.

He said he thought local people would be “relieved” at the news a prison would be built at the site rather than an immigration centre and the creation of a prison at the base was a “sensible use”. He also said there was data to prove there would be no impact on house prices near the base.

But the developer behind the eco-scheme, which included a brand new broad, branded the decision “crazy.”

Richard Davies, the 60-year-old son of a north Norfolk fisherman, had the vision of turning the base into a sustainable self-contained community with houses, schooling, employment, and eco-friendly rail bus link to Norwich.

He said: “With a need for more than 8,000 homes in north Norfolk and 7,000 in Broadland, where else are we going to build them?

“There is not room in the existing towns.”

[Jute]

Oh, Nowrich, i miss you...

[AndrewC]

YAY!! A NORFOLK THREAD!!

Right, I'm not sure what detailed info I can find, but I'm sure given some time I can think of a few other developments that have been finished recently or are U/C now.

Just along the lines of standard apartments - the obvious ones to start off with are the ones behind Carrow Road by the river. Think they're finished now? I quite like them, they've got those funky multi-coloured lift shaft things!

That Holiday Inn on the corner of the Jarrold/Barclays Stands is hideous though - a complete waste of space. That could be corner seating! and a better hotel!!

-------------------------------

Can't believe the outer harbour is finally being built! Never thought it would happen. A third river crossing (most likely where Beccles Road runs from the bypass to southtown road/the river) is an absolute must now. Haven Bridge and North Quay just will not be able to handle the extra traffic this port could bring if it is successful.

The only other significant building work I know of in Yarmouth is another recently finished block of flats on the Cobham side of the Yare (looking swish - and a nice group of apartment buildings starting to emerge around there), and the houses on St Nicholas Road, which are only notable for the fact they are being built on the site of Garibaldis!!

[AndrewC]

Just looked at that Calvert Square website - about time Anglia Square got a revamp. Where did you get that picture with the tower on it nuhouse? Can't help but think it looks a little tall, but then again it has a touch of Holland about it, and I like when Norfolk goes all hollandy!

Damn shame about the eco-village planned for Coltishall.

[AndrewC]

I forgot to mention how good the bus station is. Love it.

[AndrewC]

Here's a website I just found doing a quick Norwich google. It seems to provide pretty comprehensive news for Norwich Airport, including the recent introduction of a £3 'Development fee' (which I paid when I went to Serbia!) and various route changes/additions.

UK-Airport-News.info

[nuhouse]

Originally Posted by AndrewC

Just looked at that Calvert Square website - about time Anglia Square got a revamp. Where did you get that picture with the tower on it nuhouse? Can't help but think it looks a little tall, but then again it has a touch of Holland about it, and I like when Norfolk goes all hollandy!

Damn shame about the eco-village planned for Coltishall.

It was on the evening news website. I would have provided a few more pictures for all the projects including the recently finished one's but for some reason they all seem to be in short supply.

Also thought about adding the developments next to Carrow road both right next to it and across the river on both sides of Carrow bridge in the old Read Mill warehouse on King street. Will have a scout round to see if I can find any decent info and pictures to post up.

P.S. Anymore info about Yarmouth or any other Norfolk town developments would be great. Not really my area, but i'm sure there has to be a few things going on.

[AndrewC]

Yeah, jsut the odd thing going up in Yarmouth, no large schemes that I can think of bar the Outer Port. I think a marina would be a great asset for the Cobham area - close to the new flats around there - it would serve the Broads Tourist Trade brilliantly. There were plans mooted for a marina around there a while ago but I'm not sure what became of them.

Was looking on Google Earth yesterday and those flats the other side of the river from Carrow Road look like they're on a big site. Will have to try and find some plans or some such later.

[DNA858]

a marina would be a great addition to norwich + norfolk due to the broads boating activities. i would imagine with norwich economy and population/skills-labour pool, that a marina would be amazing architecture wise, even better than lincoln.

really like this part of the country, so very interested to read your developments guys.

[Mdxavita]

buenos proyectos

[AndrewC]

Originally Posted by Mdxavita

buenos proyectos

Good projects?

Thatnks very much.

[Sussex Albion]

This is all very interesting - thanks. I really enjoyed my visit to Norwich in October when I brought my Dad up for a party in Wymondham. For a city of only 200,000 people it felt much larger, on the scale of somewhere like Nottingham. However, as someone who absolutely loves your fair city (I have very strong family connections with Norfolk), I feel that Chapelfield was a wasted opportunity to recreate a traditional streetscape on a prime site. One of Norwich's great strengths is its independent stores in small streets, such as Timberhill. Walking up Timberhill, I saw signs on shops saying that the expansion of Norwich City Centre had forced them to close. Traditional streets allow small shops to prosper, whereas big multiples are all that can afford to take space in big malls. By contrast, Castle Mall is a nice, compact centre that seems to fit in well with the rest of the centre. Isn't one mall enough? The rest of Norwich seems to have that sort of "metro" feel, which big cities should have, like my home city, Brighton. We only have one covered shopping centre, Churchill Square, which I can't stand, but it doesn't seem to detract from the small shops.

As for Norwich City, I think they put it in the corner because it's next to where the away fans go, and if they had put in seats, they would not have been able to use most of them. It seems a little odd, though, that they put the away fans next to their own noisiest fans.

[nuhouse]

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/conte...A57%3A13%3A930

Ambitious plans for £35m leisure complex


Multi-million pound plans to improve Great Yarmouth will kick-start the regeneration of the seaside town, business leaders said today as details of the ambitious scheme were revealed.

The plans for a £35m leisure complex, which will transform the seafront and extend the Golden Mile, come as a host of other schemes are already underway in the resort.

Details of The Edge, boasting a casino, cinema, bowling alley, hotel, restaurants and bars were revealed yesterday and are on show at the town's Priory Centre, Priory Plain today until 8pm.

More than £700,000 has already been invested in the project by Pleasure Beach managing director Albert Jones, who came up with the idea to revitalise wasteland between the Pleasure Beach and the new outer harbour.

Mr Jones said today: “Around 1,000 new jobs will be created and it will house one of the country's leading casinos, a 10-screen cinema, a 22-lane bowling alley, a 180-room hotel and a combination of restaurants and bars.

“It's going to be a 52 weeks of the year business, attracting more visitors not just for us, but for everyone else in Yarmouth.

“And it will be next door to the outer harbour which will be bringing in thousands of tourists from overseas. It's looking good for Yarmouth which is a town on the up.”

There is already outline planning consent for a leisure complex on the former South Denes caravan park and Mr Jones said there had been substantial investment in its design.

The casino proposal is still awaiting details of a government rethink but borough council chiefs are confident proposals will be given the go-ahead soon for eight large casinos including one in Great Yarmouth.

The regeneration of Yarmouth is already underway with a £2m project to transform St George's Park progressing well with new pavements, new lighting, seating, planting, playground equipment and CCTV.

Interim works on transforming St George's Theatre have finished with a £60,000 programme focusing on the eastern end and upgrading fire safety, while a major refurbishment inside and out is still waiting in the wings with officials fine-tuning a major lottery and English Heritage bid expected to run into hundreds of thousands.

And Yarmouth's £45m outer harbour, where work started this summer, will be one of the biggest new port developments to go ahead in the UK in recent years.

Built next to the river port, it will stretch out into the North Sea providing deep water facilities capable of taking a new generation of much bigger vessels and opening up a wealth of trade possibilities.

[AndrewC]

These plans look very exciting, that area has been a wasteland (literally and metaphorically speaking) for as long as I can remember. The town is crying out for a better standard of year round facilities, to attract year round tourists but also to serve the permanent population. Decent bowling, cinema, restaurants and bars are extremely limited in the town at present, and you really have to travel to Norwich for a decent night. Or stay in. So these are very welcome. Bit off the beaten track though, its a good half hour walk to that end of town from the centre.

[Caveman]

Hey there, thank you for starting a Norwich thread, some interesting developments going on and in the pipeline. It's great to see that Anglia Square is finally getting redeveloped - do you know if this is definately happening or just a possibility?

I also have to agree with SussexAlbion that the Chapelfield Centre was a wasted opportunity, I was very disappointed when i first saw it and could have been made 'more Norwich' rather than an identikit shopping mall.

Keep up the good work and if I find any new developments going on I'll make sure I post them on here

[AndrewC]

You know, I never considered the option of creating a 'traditional' street environment on chappelfield. It could have been nice, but then again, its difficult to produce that kind of thing without original style buildings already in existence. Building tightly knit small scale street environments from scratch is trickier than it sounds IMO, never really seen anything like that done properly before.

I quite like Chappelfield for its modern feel. As great as Norwich shopping was pre-chapppelfield, I do think it lacked those absolute top-class retail units.

Does anyone find the city a bit quiter now, ie. is Norwich near saturation point for retail?

[nuhouse]

Originally Posted by AndrewC

You know, I never considered the option of creating a 'traditional' street environment on chappelfield. It could have been nice, but then again, its difficult to produce that kind of thing without original style buildings already in existence. Building tightly knit small scale street environments from scratch is trickier than it sounds IMO, never really seen anything like that done properly before.

I quite like Chappelfield for its modern feel. As great as Norwich shopping was pre-chapppelfield, I do think it lacked those absolute top-class retail units.

Does anyone find the city a bit quiter now, ie. is Norwich near saturation point for retail?

I quite like Chapelfield as well. As you say it caters for the 'higher end' of the market, which was definately needed in Norwich. As for other shops closing down in the city centre well there has been 1 or 2 however there has also been a flurry of new shops opening in the 'Norwich lanes' area. Quite a few new funky clothes and shoes boutique type shops. As for retail generally in Norwich I definately believe we've reached the zenith. I can't see any further major expansion in the city centre, which is fine because Norwich does excellently compared to many other places in the UK.