Timescale for Southgates masterplan in King's Lynn still to be decided - but town centre work to come first

Overhauls to Lynn’s town centre and Southgates area will be delivered separately to avoid needless disruption.

That is the plan of action for Norfolk County Council following its successful Levelling Up bid, with the Government agreeing to provide £24million in funding to improve transport routes in the town.

The cash was secured under the King’s Lynn Sustainable Transport and Regeneration Scheme (STARS), with a portion of it set to go towards a “masterplan” which could transform its southern entrance.

The Lynn News approached the county council following the bid being given the green light in relation to a potential start date for the programme.

While no such timeframe has been established as yet, early details on the work have been released.

A spokesman said: “Norfolk County Council is delighted that the visionary STARS bid was given approval last week, subject to business cases being submitted and accepted by the Department for Transport (DfT).

“In view of this we now need to discuss the business case timetable and programme with DfT to agree a revised overall programme.

“However, our intention is still to deliver the town centre one-way system proposals first followed by the highway changes in the Southgates area.

“We clearly do not want to be constructing both schemes simultaneously as this would cause unnecessary disruption in the town.”

A public consultation on the scheme which ran last year suggested that its public approval is strong.

At the time of its launch in September, West Norfolk Council - which designed the masterplan - said it wanted to “change the way people travel around the area” by reducing bottleneck congestion and promoting alternatives to driving.

More than 80% of respondents agreed with the proposal to divert traffic around the South Gate itself - which would be protected and used as an entrance for pedestrians and cyclists.

While the Lynn funding was awarded, a similar bid to construct a £29million replacement for Hunstanton’s existing Oasis seafront centre was rejected by the Government last week.