Council backs plans for new Diss restaurant
Weatherspoon Diss
A national pub chain has moved a step closer to opening up in Diss after a planning application to build a restaurant was recommended for approval by Diss Town Council.
Joe Darrell, landowner of Kings Head Yard in Diss, has applied to South Norfolk Council for permission to build a restaurant-cum-bar on the site, which could accommodate a new J D Wetherspoon pub.
Mr Darrell secured planning permission for the site in 2008, but has resubmitted plans to include a mezzanine floor.
Councillors voted on the application again at a planning committee meeting on Wednesday, with the majority voting to approve the plan in principle, welcoming a modern style building into the town.
However, town clerk Deborah Sarson said it was widely known that J D Wetherspoon would be the tenant and was concerned about the safety of inebriated patrons, with no plans for a barrier between the restaurant terrace and Mere.
Councillors were also concerned that there was no mention to the relevant planning policies in the application, that the sides of the building with exposed steel frames would not be in keeping with the conservation area and about the potential noise nuisance for residents, with plans to remove the hedge between Hales Yard and Kings Head Yard.
The restaurant-cum-bar would be open from 8am to midnight seven days a week. The plans include a car park with 22 spaces and the development is expected to create 16 full-time jobs.
Councillor Simon Olander, chairman of the planning committee said the restaurant would redevelop one of the town’s “biggest grot spots.”
The application will now be heard by South Norfolk Council’s planning committee.
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Weather for Diss
Saturday 25 May 2013
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 5 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 7 C to 17 C
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Wind direction: North west

