Former city centre dance studio to be demolished and replaced with block of flats

The Del Ballroom on Waggon and Horses Lane, off Elm Hill, is to make way for a block of seven flats, after the owner decided it was no longer suitable to be used for dance classes. The building has been owned by Mark Hudson for more than 10 years and had previously been used by the Anglia Academy of Dancing.

The project's design and access statement said: 'The reduction in modern dance requirements means it is no longer suitable for that use and a new, more suitable use for the property is proposed.'

A pre-application consultation carried out on the site in June 2010 proposed a three-storey development of new flats - including a bedroom studio.

However, the successful application has set out a development of seven flats, split across three-and-a-half stories, with the third floor housing a loft apartment.

The block is also to be staggered in height, with sections of the building only two storeys high. It will also be laid out in an L shape, to include an internal courtyard and bin and cycle store, and will have no parking provisions.

The development received three public objections, including one from Mario Ouchai, of Italian restaurant Trattoria Rustica on nearby Princes Street.

He said: 'Cooking smells and noises from the day-to-day running of 20 Princes Street as a restaurant will affect the proposed neighbouring property.

'The major concern is that any future residents in the proposed flats may object to use of 20 Princes Street as a restaurant; the property has been a restaurant for the last 60 years and it would be unreasonable for the council to allow future disputes to arise from new neighbouring tenants.'

A report from Norwich City Council's head of planning services said: 'The loss of the Del Ballroom is considered acceptable as alternative provision for a dance school exists in close proximity.

'The provision of seven residential units will help meet the housing need in Norwich.'