A massive marina development in King's Lynn will create 300 jobs, offer more than 900 homes in a run down part of the town and give the economy a £13m-a-year boost.

A massive marina development in King's Lynn will create 300 jobs, offer more than 900 homes in a run down part of the town and give the economy a £13m-a-year boost.

A masterplan for a new marina on King's Lynn's Boal Quay says the scheme would put the town on the map for boaters and tourists alike and become a new quarter with shops, cafes, restaurants and a hotel.

The £13.6m marina and associated development would 'utterly transform and boost the renaissance of King's Lynn', according to the architect planners, who have produced the masterplan for West Norfolk Council and the East of England Development Agency.

Nick Daubney, leader of West Norfolk Council, said: “It is a massive project and a major priority for the long term regeneration of King's Lynn.

“It will lift the aspirations for people living here and businesses. We are delighted the plans have now been published.”

The council has already decided to start a tendering process to find a developer and it is hoped work could start on the site during 2009.

Architects, Llweleyn Davis Yeang, say the scheme would reinforce a link between the town and its River Great Ouse waterfront and create a 'genuine visitor attraction' and facility for the boating and sailing community.

The plans show 800 flats, 110 family homes, 2,700 sq m of cafes, bars and shops and a 60-80 bedroom hotel, spanning from Church Street car park, which could be made into a 680 space multi storey car park, to the Nar Ouse Regeneration area project at South Lynn and the South Gates roundabout.

The marina itself would sport 250 berths for seagoing craft, with a sea-lock on to the tidal river Great Ouse, and inland craft through a future reopening of inland navigation.

Additional pontoons could be put on the Great Ouse itself and marina facilities would include a chandlery, boat lift and 150 car parking spaces for boat owners.

The report said: “It is a vision that will utterly transform the site and boost the renaissance of King's Lynn.

“King's Lynn has massive unrealised potential in the quality of its built environment, too often under appreciated.

“Constructing the marina and associated development will inject up to £13m each year to the district's economy, creating up to 300 new jobs.”

But it is not set in stone and any developer who takes up the scheme would be able to change parts.

A fishing co-operative, currently based at the site, would remain there but would eventually be moved.

Harding's Pits doorstep green would be unaltered in the scheme put forward by Llwelyn Davis.

The majority of the land proposed as part of the seven hectare site is owned by the council but small patches of it are owned by a variety of private individuals and companies.

Plans to connect the marina to the inland waterways have been put on hold because a scheme to use the River Nar as the link have hit problems.

But John Adams, waterways development manager for the Environment Agency, said an alternative was being looked at which could see the town linked to the Fenland Waterways Link scheme, which hopes to connect the cathedral cities of Lincoln, Peterborough and Ely.