A multi-million pound town centre transformation has been hailed as "exciting" by councillors.
The "substantial and comprehensive" regeneration of Lowestoft town centre is set to gather pace after ambitious plans were given the go-ahead.
A proposed £24.3m development around the Battery Green car park and surrounding land on Marina Road, Lowestoft - that culminates "in the creation of three landmark buildings on a town centre site which is currently unattractive and underutilised" - has been given the green light.
With a new restaurant catering for 80 people, a civic square, pop up bars and leisure uses earmarked among the regeneration efforts to drive footfall in the town centre, a scheme was lodged with East Suffolk Council last December.
Centring around: "Part demolition of the existing Battery Green car park and northern wing of the Marina Centre building, realignment of Marina Road, the erection of a new circulation core in the retained car park area," along with the "change of use of partially retained car park to competitive leisure use, new cultural building consisting of single and two storey elements, containing multi use hall, lobby, cafe, studio spaces, plant areas, restaurant and first floor multi use space."
It includes: "Externally providing new soft and hard landscaping with external lighting scheme to create new linkages and new public realm."
With the development set to provide "three landmark buildings" and "create a new cultural quarter for Lowestoft" the vision was voted on at an extraordinary meeting of the council's Planning Committee North in Lowestoft last Friday.
It comes after Lowestoft was awarded £24.9m from the government's £3.6bn Towns Fund in 2021 for five key projects in the heart of the town - with one of these regeneration schemes a new Cultural Quarter.
This Cultural Quarter project - which is earmarked as costing £24.3m, with £14.3m from the government's Towns Fund and £10m from East Suffolk Council's Capital Fund - will see the existing Battery Green car park partly demolished along with the demolition of the Marina Centre building's north wing.
With planning officers recommending approval of the proposed development of subject to conditions, case officer Andrew Martin said the scheme centred around "the substantial and complete redevelopment of the Battery Green car park site in Lowestoft," with preparatory work already under way ahead of the demolition later this year.
'Really positive'
With four letters of representation "neither objecting to, nor supporting the planning application", councillors unanimously voted in favour of the scheme.
In proposing approval of the recommendation, Cllr Malcolm Pitchers said: "I can't wait for it to start."
This was seconded by Cllr Paul Ashdown, who said: "Battery Green car park has been a monstrosity in the town for a significant amount of time and to see this actually go with something else coming in its place is exciting."
Praising the "exciting" vision, councillor Katie Graham hailed the increase in green space, as planning committee north vice-chair, Cllr Julia Ewart, said Lowestoft had been given an opportunity by the government "to deliver something that is really positive."
Planning committee north chair, Cllr Sarah Plummer, echoed "the excitement of what is going on here" hailing "how big a difference it is going to make to Lowestoft."
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