It comes after change of use plans to transform a gallery near Lowestoft town centre was given the green light.
Two schemes – centring around applications for listed building consent and full planning permission – to create a new live/work unit on the High Street have both been given the go-ahead.
Plans submitted to East Suffolk Council – centring around “Change of use from commercial art gallery to a live/work unit” – for the gallery at 102 High Street in were “permitted” under delegated powers this week, with listed building consent approved for the “introduction of new internal doors.”
The two schemes had been lodged in January by agents Horace Blue Architects for applicant Jonathan Andersson.
With 102 High Street being a two-storey, commercial building with a small basement and rear garden, a design and access statement said: “Its most recent use has been a commercial art gallery.
“The existing gallery – and the previous gallery that occupied the building – have struggled to make the business viable in this location.”
After being put up for sale there has been a “lack of demand” prompting the proposals for a change of use from commercial to a Live/Work unit.
It would see half the ground floor, fronting the High Street, “retained as a shop” with the rest becoming residential, as a live/work unit was described “as a much more viable option.”
A delegated report from the council’s case officer said: “The live/work unit will combine residential accommodation with workspace, allowing the occupant to reside and operate a business within the same premises.
“The proposal supports economic flexibility while preserving the historic character of the listed building.”
With no objections and no third party representations received, it recommended that “planning permission be granted” with conditions for both schemes.
