THE fight against developers turning an important Great Yarmouth holiday spot into a high density housing zone will be stepped up, under new borough council proposals.

THE fight against developers turning an important Great Yarmouth holiday spot into a high density housing zone will be stepped up, under new borough council proposals.

In the plans, guest house owners, hoteliers and those who own self-catering tourist units may have to answer questions about their business and property if they want to convert their units into housing.

The change would affect those within the secondary holiday area, which lies a few roads behind the seafront at Yarmouth around Wellesley Road and Nelson Road.

And it would come as part of a step-by-step campaign to halt the long-term loss of holiday accommodation in the area.

Graham Plant, cabinet member whose portfolio covers tourism, was involved with the Secondary Holiday Area Regeneration Project (SHARP), which has overseen regeneration around the area.

He said: “This is aimed at developers from elsewhere who come here only thinking about their own pockets and not about the town.”

According to Mr Plant, the move is being made in response to a decade that has seen a loss of 60 to 70pc of holiday accommodation to houses of multiple occupancy.

He said the questionnaire would likely be attached to a planning application for a change of use and would also require the applicant to state how long they have owned the property.