Bid to dismantle redundant gas holder

It says security and maintenance costs for the structure, which is no longer needed, mean its should be pulled down to make way for unspecified redevelopment.

Great Yarmouth's Victorian gas tower, whose elaborate design was a display of civic pride and technological prowess. The National Grid says it is looking at a heritage refurbishment. (Image: Liz Coates)

Meanwhile the neighbouring gas tower, a Grade II listed Victorian construction, is in line for a heritage refurbishment befitting its status as one of the most magnificent in the country.

Papers supporting the demolition bid say the 1960's built structure is "subservient" to the listed one and could be removed without any significant impact on its setting.

They say the later addition to the gasworks is of a spiral-guided design but no longer serves its purpose and has been collapsed to its lowest level.

The National Grid wants to dismantle a gas holder in Admiralty Road, Great Yarmouth. (Image: Liz Coates)

An area of live plant, operated by Cadent, will remain unaffected by the works and is required for the ongoing management of gas pressure across the network

The Great Yarmouth Gasworks site was established on the corner of Southgates Road and Barrack Road and extended towards Admiralty Road in the mid-1880s.

Initially the gasworks featured two large holders in the eastern part of the wider site and two further gasholders on a piece of land on the opposite corner of Barrack Road and Southgates Road.

The 1960s spiral gas holder is said to be subservient to the Victorian listed one. The National Grid says it has over 500 gas holders, but less than 5pc are considered heritage assets. (Image: Liz Coates)

The elaborate Victorian holder is one of only 19 listed in England. It dates from 1884 and is considered one of the finest in the country.

A report by Wood Group states the Great Yarmouth Gas Light and Coke company was first established in 1824 to supply 150 new gas street lamps - the last of which was knocked down by a car and destroyed outside the Arc Cinema in 2005.

After 142 years the transition from coal gas to natural gas in the 1960s saw much of the plant demolished, the final two holders still operational into the early 1970s.

The gas holder in Admiralty Road is being taken down. The National Grid says the cost of security and maintenance cannot be justified. (Image: Liz Coates)

Work to take down the modern holder will be completed by March 2023 and take around 20 weeks, The National Grid states, involving up to 220 lorry movements.

Cadent Gas posted a holding objection which it later removed, but said it was mindful of its own "high pressure assets" on the site.

There were once four gas holders in Great Yarmouth whose function was to secure an adequate supply for the day. The Victorian one held 10.9 million litres. The later addition is being dismantled. Neither have been in action for at least 50 years. (Image: Newsquest)

To view the plans visit the borough council's planning portal quoting reference 06/22/0102/DM.

Notices at the fenced off gas holder site in Admiralty Road where there is a proposal to dismantle the newer holder dating from the 1960s. (Image: Liz Coates)