A block of seventeen riverside flats could encourage residents back into Great Yarmouth town centre, a report has said, as a planning application is recommended for approval.

Great Yarmouth Mercury: Europa House, on Great Yarmouth's South Quay, could be demolished and replaced with a block of 17 flats. Picture: Daniel Hickey.Europa House, on Great Yarmouth's South Quay, could be demolished and replaced with a block of 17 flats. Picture: Daniel Hickey. (Image: Archant)

The scheme, up for discussion at a Great Yarmouth Borough Council meeting next Wednesday (March 11), would see the demolition of Europa House, a former office building on the corner of South Quay and Nottingham Way, and its replacement with a four-storey building of 17 one and two-bedroom apartments.

Europa House is a flat-roof, brick-built commercial building dating from the 1950s.

A report to the council's development control committee states the "loss of the building would provide an opportunity to improve the aesthetics of the street scene".

The new accommodation would be of similar height to the neighbouring blocks on Nottingham Way, while each of the flats would have a balcony.

An architect's drawing, included in the report, shows a building bearing resemblance to those already located in the area, with grass and low-level plants surrounding the block.

A neighbour has objected to the plan over parking concerns and is quoted in the report as saying there is nowhere to park in the area while the side streets are over-capacity with parking problems.

However, the report states: "The existing commercial use of the site does not have parking facilities, and there are public car-parks and road-side parking nearby, although there are parking restrictions directly outside the site due to the busy nature of the road."

It also says: "The site is a sustainable one where a lack of parking is not an over-riding consideration."

While none of the flats would be affordable housing all of them are modest lower-cost units and are suitable for disabled users with access ramps and a lift on a all floors, the report notes.

In the application's favour is that the site, just under a hectare, is in a "highly sustainable location, at a time when the council is seeking the redevelopment of the area in general and encourages multi-use sites and those which encourage residents back in to the town centre".

The bid, by Daylight Developments Ltd, is recommended for approval subject to conditions.