Restaurant and town houses bid for former town centre furniture store

A collection of listed buildings in Market Row are being redeveloped with a cafe/restaurant/retail elements as well as townhouses and flats Picture: Google Maps (Image: Archant)

Permission has already been granted for some retail/restaurant use and seven flats on the upper three floors at 43 Market Row, Great Yarmouth.

The collection of Grade II buildings date in part from the 16th century.

Their various uses mirror Great Yarmouth's rise and fall over the years, and the buildings were most recently the home of Instant Furniture, and before that Bretts.

New amended plans submitted to Great Yarmouth Borough Council show a terrace of town houses along Stonecutters Way, trimming the amount of commercial space and the number of flats initially put forward.

As part of the application there is a proposal to demolish a flat-roofed building to make way for a courtyard for bins and bicycle storage.

The previous scheme, given the go-ahead last year, drew objections around the eatery element with 52 people putting their names to a petition to stop it.

There were also concerns about litter and anti-social behaviour from the flats.

One person said: "Competition is a good thing, but eventually the market becomes saturated. Have we not reached this point?"

Papers submitted in support of the initial application say the original town houses at 2/3 Howard Street, included within the application site, date from the early 1800s when the town was booming, making them contemporaries of the Royal Naval Hospital and Nelson's Monument.

The buildings are described as "individual and unique".

The new development bid is said to mark another stage in their evolution.

However, the applicant has said he doesn't want it to be used as a restaurant because he doesn't want to affect existing local cafe's and eateries by taking business away from them.

A public house once stood on the site called The Prince of Wales.

Under the plans there will be three, two bedroom townhouses with en-suite bathrooms, and one with three bedrooms - all en-suite.

The papers note that Broad Row and Market Row were the only Rows in Great Yarmouth not given a number when the system was introduced in 1804 because they were well-established retail lanes.

A project to make more of Yarmouth's ancient Rows is improving lighting, adding interpretation panels, giving them back their original names, and making them a destination in themselves.