What is the Diss Heritage Triangle?
The Diss Heritage Triangle refers to a £3.4m project which aims to revamp the historic centre of Diss.
The project includes four main areas. They are renovating the grade II listed Corn Hall, creating a new wildlife friendly garden and floating boardwalk at Mere's Mouth, creating new road designs for St Nicholas Street, Market Hill and Market Place and placing interpretation boards around the heritage triangle.
Why is the work being done?
To make the historic centre of Diss more attractive and accessible to residents and visitors alike, therefore benefitting local independent businesses and the town as a whole.
How much is the project costing?
The overall Heritage triangle project is a £3.4m investment.
Across the four main areas of the project, the renovation of the Corn Hall is costing the most at roughly £2.43m, followed by streetscape works costing around £600,000, works to the Mere and boardwalk coming in at approximately £200,000 and the interpretation boards £140,000 million.
Who is paying for this?
Around £3.3m has been raised in grants for the project, this figure includes £1.85m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £330,000 from Diss Town Council, £400,000 from South Norfolk Council, £150,000 from Norfolk County Council and £125,000 from the people and businesses of Diss.
When does it start?
Some aspects of the Heritage Triangle project such as the renovation of the Corn Hall are close to being completed but the next big stage of the project will be the streetscape works which will commence on Tuesday, April 18.
What work is being done?
The streetscape works involve putting in place a new traffic calming scheme.
Pavements will be widened and new raised squares will be added to Market Hill, St Nicholas Street and Market Place.
It is hoped the works will make the area safer and more pleasant for pedestrians, with new street furniture such as planters and benches adding to the area.
How long will it take?
It is expected that the street works will go on for 12 weeks, finishing in the first week of July.
This is assuming everything runs smoothly. For the timescale of planned works will be affected by what construction workers find below the street level, for example, gas and electricity supplies.
How will it affect me?
Traffic and pedestrians will always be able to get through the area but whilst the works are taking place, sections of road will be closed starting with Market Hill.
There will be planned weekend and evening works, noisy work will finish by 11pm on a Saturday and will be moved to a Friday night in some instances to avoid disrupting the church.
Shops and business will all remain open and continue to operate as normal.
When will the works be finished?
New traffic regulation orders will prevent parking in the triangle except for blue badge holders however people will be able to load and unload anywhere for five minutes at a time without being penalised.
Once the streetscape is completed there will be history boards around the heritage triangle informing people of the history of the area.
How can I find out more?
You can visit the Diss Town Council website
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