Shipping container shopping centre approved

An artist's impression has been released showing how part of the box park could look

A new retail and food development - made from refitted shipping containers - will be built as part of plans for a major overhaul of a shopping precinct.

Dozens of refitted shipping containers will be used in the project that will go under Norwich's Magdalen Street flyover after being granted planning permission by the city council.

Called "St Saviour's Yard", the development - influenced by the Boxpark model -will be built on the car park opposite Anglia Square and is expected to include shops, office spaces and food outlets.

However, concerns have been raised by some local people about the loss of parking spaces and the impact on nearby businesses.

Norwich City Council bought Anglia Square last year and was awarded £34m by the government to cover the costs of buying and razing the site.

Traders have already been moved out ahead of works getting under way and the council has previously guaranteed all of them a space in the box park, or an alternative location in the city.

In 2011, Boxpark at Shoreditch in London was the first food and retail park made of refitted shipping containers to open in the UK

The 40ft (12m) and 20ft (6m) shipping containers, which are permitted to remain in place for a decade, are intended to be a "flexible and low-cost" option to house a mix of independent businesses, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

However, the plan means the loss of 200 parking spaces, with neighbours also raising concerns about noise, loss of privacy and the potential for anti-social behaviour.

Stacia Briggs, who owns a property near the development, told a meeting of the council's planning committee that it would "damage the lives" of local people.

"There has been no meaningful engagement with residents while this has been rushed through by the council," she said.

"Magdalen Street traders are already struggling and the removal of parking, along with the siphoning of footfall to outlets in shipping containers, will gut the independent spirit of the area."

Anglia Square shopping centre is set to be demolished by March 2026

But Labour's Carli Harper, cabinet member for finance and major projects, insisted the council would "mitigate and minimise" disruption to traders and residents.

"By using shipping containers, the design is sustainable, flexible and quick to deliver, providing benefits while the wider project takes place," she said.

"It would be disingenuous to suggest we can undertake one of the biggest regeneration projects this city has seen in recent years without there being any impact."

Speaking after the meeting, she said the box park should open this autumn and that since last Friday, the council had received "over two hundred expressions of interest" in taking on containers.

Norwich City Council recently announced it had entered into an investment partnership with insurance firm Aviva to boost works on the site, where it hopes to build 1,100 new homes.

The £350m redevelopment of the site is expected to be funded by housing developers and other investors, including Aviva, although the company has not confirmed how much it intends to put in.