Westlegate housing plans blocked by Norwich City Council

Norwich City Council has blocked the latest bid to see a row of offices in Westlegate turned into more than 40 new apartments. 

There have been several attempts to develop the site over the years, with planning permission granted for the conversion of the office space into residential homes in 2020 - which has since expired.

However, officials at City Hall now say the development is "poorly designed" and would have offered a low standard of living for prospective residents.

The plans, lodged by developers JaeVee, sought to turn office space on the first, second and third floors of the row of shops in Westlegate into 44 apartments, along with a newly-constructed upper floor comprising of four penthouses with balconies. 

Westlegate in Norwich city centre (Image: Bethany Whymark)

The apartments would have consisted of a mixture of studio, one bedroom and two-bedroom units across the four floors. 

To provide access to the residential complex, a vacant unit next to Adnams and another in St Stephens Street would have been turned into lobbies, which raised concerns with the council about the loss of retail space. 

Officials also said the development would be "incongruous" with the surrounding area and fail to provide a satisfactory standard of living due to overshadowing and lack of natural light. 

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The vacant unit on Westlegate (Image: William Warnes)

Several proposals to transform the area have been blocked by the council in recent years, including an application for a 143-bed house of multiple occupancy (HMO) at the site - which was also refused due to concerns about living conditions. 

The Boar's Head and the Westlegate buildings were bought by developer Estateducation in 2021 as part of a joint venture with JaeVee.

The office space is last known to have been occupied in 2007 and has remained vacant since.