Plan for townhouses at derelict pub scaled back

The pub started out as The Shirehall in the 1860s

A scheme to convert a derelict city centre pub into five townhouses could be scaled back.

The Owl Sanctuary on Cattle Market Street, Norwich, closed in 2016, with the city council originally granting permission five years ago for it to be converted into seven dwellings.

The plans were adapted last year to five townhouses, including two new-build units, with the developer now seeking to further amend the plans to three townhouses and a "modest" extension.

"The proposal continues to deliver new family housing, while offering a more sensitive and proportionate development outcome," the application states.

The change removes the new-build element, thereby "reducing the scale and intensity of development", and would be "more in keeping with the site's existing character", it adds.

The building opened as a pub in the 1860s, and was known by its original name of The Shirehall until its closure in 1990.

It changed hands several times, and was briefly an Australian bar in the mid-90s, before becoming The One and Only, The Marquee, The Shirehall again, and then finally The Owl Sanctuary.

The planning committee is expected to decide on the application at a later date.