2.182
The site is 1.52 hectares in size and is located in the eastern part of the city centre on the south side of Thorpe Road (A1242), a busy and heavily trafficked radial route serving the east side of the city.
2.183
The site has frontages to Thorpe Road, Lower Clarence Road and Stracey Road. It is currently occupied and operated by Royal Mail Group and accommodates Royal Mail’s Norwich sorting office, ancillary office and storage uses and vehicle parking. The substantial main building dates from the 1950s.
2.184
Thorpe Road is characterised by late Victorian three and four-storey terraces (partly within St Matthews Conservation Area) accommodating a mix of uses including offices, small hotels, guest houses, flats and houses in multiple occupation, interspersed with larger scale office development including a substantial refurbished 1970s office building (Yare House) opposite the site. There are housing developments directly to the west (Great Eastern Court and Regency Court), which incorporate locally listed buildings. The site is immediately adjacent to the St Matthew’s Conservation Area to the west.
2.185
The site is accessible to a range of city centre facilities including the Riverside retail and leisure complex and has convenient and direct access to the rail station. Vehicular access is taken from Lower Clarence Road which acts as a service road running to the rear of the site: land on the south side of Lower Clarence Road is currently used for long stay public car parking and is also proposed for future development. The Lower Clarence Road frontage overlooks the main platforms and marshalling yards on the approach to the rail station. The site is at present dominated by semi-industrial post-war buildings of little architectural merit with large areas of car and lorry parking which do little to respect the character and context of the area.
2.186
The site was allocated in the previous Local Plan but has not yet been developed. The principle of development on the site has already been accepted, and it is expected that development will take place within the new local plan time-period up to 2038. The site is re-allocated for residential development.
2.187
The site is likely to accommodate in the region of 150 homes.
Policy CC15
Norwich Mail Centre, 13-17 Thorpe Road, Norwich (approx. 1.52Ha) is allocated for residential led mixed use development. This will accommodate in the region of 150 homes.
Redevelopment of this site should include
- housing (in the region of 150 dwellings); housing should predominate with a mix of sizes and types;
- on-site open space and play space; and
- offices.
The development will achieve the following site-specific requirements:
- Achievement of a high quality, locally distinctive and energy efficient design of a scale and form which is in keeping with the character of the area, respects the heritage significance of the immediately adjacent St Matthews Conservation Area and protects the amenity of adjoining residential occupiers.
- Development must re-establish built frontages to Thorpe Road, Lower Clarence Road and Stracey Road, with enhanced landscaping and green infrastructure and improved pedestrian and cycle links through the site.
- A noise assessment is required and the development must be designed to mitigate the impact of noise from the main road and the train station.
Policy Map
