City councillors have given their support to the principle of plans for the long-awaited revamp of Anglia Square.

At a meeting today members of the council's planning applications committee gave the head of planning, in consultation with the committee's chairman and vice chairman, the delegated powers to fine tune and approve the current applications relating to the redevelopment of the site in the north of the city.

Plans for a �100m revamp of the shopping centre area, including a new supermarket, shops, homes, a gym and restaurants, which had previously won approval, had stalled because of the credit crunch.

But, following long-running talks between developers Centenary Ashcroft and Norwich City Council, revised plans were today put before the committee.

Councillors were divided on their opinions of the applications - with some saying they wanted work to start on the site as soon as possible while others said they were uncomfortable with the plans, in particular with the amount of housing proposed, the renewable energy provision, the cycle access and the landscaping proposals.

After the meeting Ranald Phillips, a director of developers Centenary Ashcroft, said: 'The recommendation has been approved so the good news is that we can make concrete progress.'

He added: 'We are still looking to make a start on the main contract during the course of next year.'

• For more on this story see tomorrow's paper.