Cabinet members have given the go-ahead to start a master planning process for a city regeneration scheme which could pave the way for thousands of homes and jobs.
The council’s longstanding ambition to breathe new life into the east of the city got the stamp of approval at a cabinet meeting this week, where the city’s blueprint for COVID-19 recovery was also approved. The scheme sits within one of the eight themed priorities of the blueprint – housing, regeneration and development.
Vital to the success of the regeneration will be the creation of the ‘East Norwich Partnership’ – a new public-private sector group which will steer preparation of a masterplan to create a new city quarter with the potential to deliver 4,000 new homes and 6,000 new jobs.
The close proximity of the city’s railway station, football stadium and river add to appeal of the area, which has long been marked as having huge development potential through the Greater Norwich Local Plan.
In preparation, the council has already met with key east Norwich stakeholders over recent months, which include representatives from landowners, agents and developers for the sites, key public sector representatives, the New Anglia LEP and Homes England.
Leader of Norwich City Council, Alan Waters, said: “Partnership working has been and will continue to be a vital part of our Covid-19 recovery, so I’m delighted that we can now press ahead with plans to revitalise this hugely important area of the city.
“We are at an early stage in the planning process, but I’m confident that we have done the ground work and have the right people in place to move this ambition forward and transform these disused sites in east Norwich into an outstanding place to live, work and visit.”
Additional information
The sites that make up the East Norwich area (the Deal Ground, including land in Trowse; Utilities site; and Carrow Works) total about 50 hectares.
Following the announcement in 2018 of Britvic/Unilever vacating the Carrow Works site, Norwich City Council commissioned a study to explore the opportunities presented by its availability for redevelopment and the potential to stimulate wider regeneration in East Norwich.
‘A Vision for East Norwich’ (5th Studio, 2018) identified the release of Carrow Works as presenting a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to address the challenges of the three sites strategically, and sets out a vision for East Norwich as a new productive quarter for the future growth of the city. It envisages that the quarter could provide up to 4,000 new homes and 100,000 sq m of employment space, accommodating up to 6,000 new jobs.
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