Description
The site is located at the junction of Surrey Street and Queens Road near the edge of the city centre, and is 0.5 hectares in size. The site is vacant and is currently used as Sentinel House and Queens Road surface car parks.
The site borders Queens Road which forms part of the city’s inner ring road. The strip of land which forms Queens Road car park is owned by Norfolk County council and was acquired to facilitate future widening of the inner ring road; it is now surplus to requirements. On the Surrey Street side, the site is adjacent to a row of 19th century paired residential terraces known as Carlton Terrace which presents a strong building line and positive frontage. These buildings are locally listed. An office block, Sentinel House, lies to the north of the site. This is identified as a negative building in the City centre conservation area appraisal. Office uses extend further to the north of Surrey Street.
Surrey Street is a mixed use quarter of All Saints Green and St Stephens Area. The area is largely dominated by office use though it also contains a major school and some residential properties together with a single public house. This area is characterised by groups of good 18th and 19th century houses, together with the Edwardian headquarters of Aviva. However, their settings are largely dominated by late 20th century office developments of considerable scale. Consequently the townscape is rather fragmented due to the juxtaposition of buildings of varying scale, over-assertive newer buildings on odd building lines and areas of open land and surface car parking.
Explanatory text
The JCS identifies the Stephen’s Street area (which this site falls within) as an area of change. It states that the St Stephens area will be developed for mixed uses in accordance with the St Stephen’s Street area outline masterplan, to promote retailing, offices and housing and to create an improved pedestrian environment.
Redevelopment of this site for a mix of uses will help deliver the wider policy objectives of the JCS and help regenerate this area by providing employment and housing growth in a central location, and will create a more attractive frontage on both Queens Road and Surrey Street.
Development of the site must address a number of constraints including its location in the City Centre Conservation Area and Area of Main Archaeological Interest, its location adjacent to the line of the city wall, topography, the relationship with neighbouring locally listed buildings and noise generation from Queen’s Road.
Development should follow the design principles set out in the St Stephens Street area outline masterplan to achieve successful regeneration of this prominent site. The masterplan’s indicative proposals for the site include the creation of new continuous frontage on Queens Road for office development, and a row of terraced residential development fronting Sentinel House with a block of flats facing Surrey Street. In terms of scale the development fronting Queen’s Road is proposed to be 4 storeys high, with 2 -3 storey residential development on the remainder of the site. A pedestrian link is also proposed between Surrey Street and Queens Road that emerges opposite Chapel Loke.
The site would be suitable for car-free development given its accessible location near to the bus station and to Sainsburys Queens Rd secondary retail area. However if vehicular access is required this should be taken from Surrey Street, possibly through a carriage arch.
Green landscaping should be retained or provided along the Queens Road stretch. The small and narrow stretch of land in use as a car park in the south-east of the site should be landscaped as part of the wider site proposals, as indicated in the masterplan.
Given the site’s location on the line of the city wall, there will need to be an archaeological investigation prior to the development of proposals for the site; this is likely to require preservation in situ of any remains of the wall and a presumption that those remaining will not be built over. For this reason the policy does not specify a minimum site capacity for housing.
Deliverability
The site is identified through St Stephens Street area outline masterplan with landowners actively involved in the process. The site is suitable and available for development during the plan period.
POLICY CC29: Land at Queens Road and Surrey Street – mixed use development
Land at Queens Road and Surrey Street is allocated for office led mixed use development to include an element of residential development (potentially 40 dwellings).
The site should be developed in line with the design principles set out in the St Stephens Street area outline masterplan. Development should respect the setting of nearby locally listed buildings and the line of the city wall.
A noise assessment is required and the development should be designed to mitigate the impact of noise from the main road.
Vehicular access should be taken from Surrey Street.
