The Iron Duke, which has stood empty on Jellicoe Road in Great Yarmouth since 2008, is being restored as a ground-floor bar and restaurant with two self‑contained holiday lets above.

Now a fresh planning application, going before Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s development management committee on March 11, is asking to vary the 2025 permission to reflect a series of design changes.

In a report prepared ahead of the meeting, officers say the £2.5m project “has gone over budget” and that the applicant and owner of the building, the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust (GYPT), has carried out a value‑engineering exercise to keep it viable.

How the Iron Duke in Great Yarmouth could look after its £2.5m restoration project. (Image: Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust)

Trust chair Darren Barker said a full tender process, carried out under National Lottery rules, found the lowest bid above their original cost estimates “mostly due to inflation”.

"The project is still in budget, we just had to make savings," he added.

Those changes include swapping a spiral staircase for a standard staircase and dropping raised brick planters, scaling back hedging and replacing a proposed resin‑bound carpark surface with tarmac.

A report prepared by planners shows there was debate over how to accommodate modern ventilation equipment and new windows without harming the landmark’s character.

The Iron Duke in Great Yarmouth will be restored and reopened in summer 2026. (Image: Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust)

Earlier proposals to mount equipment on the roof were deemed unacceptably harmful to the listed building.

The kit will now be pushed into the rear service yard, screened by a higher boundary wall – a solution officers say causes a “low‑moderate” level of “less than substantial harm”.

A digital image of how the Iron Duke in Great Yarmouth could appear after restoration. (Image: Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust)

The report states: "The changes to the external landscaping and car-parking areas are considered to be an improvement compared to the previously approved scheme."

The final phase of the restoration began on March 2, with the venue expected to reopen by late summer this year.

© Eastern Daily Press