A vision of a vibrant riverside restaurant quarter shaded by an avenue of trees with boutique hotels and al-fresco dining has been brought a step closer.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council has published its draft planning brief for Hall Quay, once known as the “civic quarter” for the predominance of banks and civic buildings.

The document was presented to the policy and resources committee tonight, February 5, who agreed to take it forward for consultation.

Bookended by the Victorian town hall and Haven Bridge House Hall Quay is considered ripe for development and crucial to the future of the town centre - especially with the third river crossing poised to cut traffic.

The gateway zone has over 20 buildings, nine of which are listed and said to be particularly fine.

With the anticipated £120m third river crossing set to take traffic away from the area it is being seen as a “key opportunity” to reinvent the quayside and bring in a mix of restaurants and cuisines, boosting the evening economy.

According to the planning brief, presented to members by senior strategic planner Kim Balls, the aim is to “unlock the potential of Hall Quay as a new restaurant/cafe based area for the town centre.”

The new bridge brings a chance to re-think the road layout and cut the dominance of cars to make it more appealing to pedestrians and people on pedal bikes.

It means rolling out the red carpet out to operators looking to make the most of some of the former banks and grand buildings by turning them into restaurants or hotels.

The brief describes Hall Quay as having an “interesting and lively” variety of building scales.

It says: “This interesting assemblage of buildings taken together provides an excellent backdrop to support new uses and activities in this quarter of the town centre.”

Under the transformation there will also be landscaping and trees to reduce noise and enhance tranquillity, and improved short stay moorings.

The Hall Quay “food and beverage cluster” is one of six regeneration priorities being looked at under the Town Centre Masterplan.

At the meeting Andy Grant said he hoped the brief would drive up the standard of refurbishment, one building having been madeover “to a terrible standard.”

Trevor Wainwright asked for clarification on the scope of the consultation.