Latest Norwich city centre overhaul to be agreed

How Bank Plain could look after the proposed revamp. Pic: Transport For Norwich. Transport For Norwich

A revamp of another area of Norwich city centre is poised to be agreed next week, triggering the project that will see the nation’s first pedestrianised street re-paved.

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Almost £1m could be spent on a scheme which would see London Street in Norwich repaved. Pic: Dan Grimmer. Almost £1m could be spent on a scheme which would see London Street in Norwich repaved. Pic: Dan Grimmer.

In what is planned to be the final piece of the jigsaw in the Prince of Wales Road area shake-up, city and county councillors will next week agree just over £900,000 of changes to the London Street/Bank Plain part of the city.

The project will see improvements made to a section of London Street - the country's first ever pedestrianised shopping street - along with Opie Street, Bank Plain and Bank Street.

With the goal of creating a clearer pedestrian route between London Street and Prince of Wales Road, the scheme will see a raft of tweaks and changes made to the area.

These include widening pavements and pedestrian crossings in the Bank Plain area, creating new meeting areas along the route and removal of some parking bays.

Martin Wilby, Norfolk County Council's cabinet member for transport Picture: DENISE BRADLEY Martin Wilby, Norfolk County Council's cabinet member for transport Picture: DENISE BRADLEY

Last month, members of the public were given the opportunity to have their say on the scheme, with177 businesses and individuals submitting feedback.

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Within these, participants were largely in favour of the scheme, though the removal of parking bays on Opie Street did divide opinions.

Other proposed changes include re-paving London Street, removing the turning bay at its junction with Bank Plain and widening the pavements at St Andrews Street and Redwell Street.

On July 1 a committee of councillors from Norfolk, Norwich, Broadland and South Norfolk will be asked to approve the scheme, which also has the support of the Norwich Business Improvement District (BID).

Martin Wilby, Norfolk County Council's cabinet member for transport, said: "I'm really pleased by the amount of support the scheme has had, particularly from the business sector.

"London Street has been pedestrianised for the best part of 50 years and is due for a bit of a revamp, so I'm pleased the funding is in place and hopefully we can get on with the project."

The scheme is to be funded from money obtained through the Transforming Cities Fund, a pool of money created by the Department for Transport to fund regeneration projects. It will also fall into the overall £2.75m revamp of the Prince of Wales Road area.