A Dereham developer has taken his plans to put shops and homes on a former garden centre back to the drawing board.Stephan Cross of Gorgate Ltd already has planning permission for a block of 14 flats and a row of shops on the old Riverside Garden centre and gas works site on Swaffham Road on the edge of town.

A Dereham developer has taken his plans to put shops and homes on a former garden centre back to the drawing board.

Stephan Cross of Gorgate Ltd already has planning permission for a block of 14 flats and a row of shops on the old Riverside Garden centre and gas works site on Swaffham Road on the edge of town.

But because of 'fundamental design flaws' in the original scheme, he is putting a new scheme to Breckland Council, according to the latest planning application.

It says that while most of the scheme remains the same, there have been changes which will address concerns raised about the scheme when it was given permission.

There will still be 14 flats over two floors and 399 square metres of retail and commercial space - said to be four shops in the first plans.

But there will now be more parking spaces, 16 in total, the building will be smaller, further away from existing buildings and homes in the area, a landscaped area for residents of the flats, enhanced surveillance of the area, improved resident access and a lift to all floors.

The scheme would see 10 one bedroom flats and four two bedroom flats and 14 cycle spaces.

The application says the shops could create 17 full time equivalent jobs. The shops would be open 8am to 10pm seven days per week.

A dentist and a hairdresser's were two of the suggestions for new businesses at the site when it first went before planners.

There had been opposition from nearby residents living in the Riverside development, which has remained uncompleted after builder DGM Properties from Spalding went into administration last year with accountants Ernst and Young.