A historic part of a Norfolk town centre could become more pedestrian-friendly as part of plans to apply for Heritage Lottery funding.

The aim is to attract more visitors to the Market Hill and St Nicholas Street area of Diss by widening pavements and having different coloured road surfacing to encourage motorists to give pedestrians the priority.

The idea has been mooted by the newly formed Heritage Triangle Partnership (HTP), which is looking into ways of improving this area of the town, which has 130 listed and historic buildings including the Corn Hall theatre, Diss Museum and St Nicholas Church.

A 'heritage champion' has been appointed to oversee the project, with a renewed bid for nearly �1m of heritage lottery funding expected to be made by June in time for consideration in September.

The champion is responsible for identifying and establishing a core group of people responsible for looking into ways of developing the Market Hill area and for selling the 'Heritage Triangle' brand as part of the lottery bid process.

Part of this will involve identifying 12 key buildings, set to include the museum, Corn Hall and church, for inclusion in a history trail of the area.

An original lottery bid was refused because the heritage element was not considered strong enough.

The town council and management trust is hoping to use the lottery money to provide better bar and catering facilities at the hall including a new caf�, while facilities for performers would also be improved.

A more efficient heating system was also needed at the building.

dominic.bareham@archant.co.uk