A NEW lifeguard station could be built to improve safety for people using a stretch of Lowestoft beach.

Plans have been submitted to Waveney District Council by the Lowestoft Lifeguard Corps for permission to convert a 1930s sun shelter on Jubilee Parade, overlooking South Beach.

They hope to transform the former shelter into a lifeguard station, lookout point and club room – improving public safety on a part of the seafront that, they say, is 'increasingly used by more and more people'.

The application will come under scrutiny on Tuesday evening at a meeting of Waveney's development control committee where members will consider a recommendation by officers to approve the plans.

A design and access statement, submitted by the Lowestoft Lifeguard Corps, states that the existing premises are part of a group of buildings that were built to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V in 1935.

The site, currently owned by the council, included toilets, shop and beach huts.

A spokesman for the Lifeguard Corps told The Journal their aim was to improve safety on the beach during the busy summer months. He said: 'The shelter will be completely used with no increase in its footprint.

'The premises will be divided into an equipment store, lookout and club room and will be used seasonally from May to September only.'

If approved, he said, the station would look out across the Jubilee Promenade and south beach.

'We are very keen to develop a new provision in a much-needed part of the beach, which will enable us to increase our volunteer community service thereby helping to make the beach a safer place to be and enjoy,' he added.

'The Corps has embarked upon a project to refurbish an existing shelter on Jubilee Promenade with the aim of providing a dedicated Lifeguard lookout and training station. From these new premises the Corps can build upon and expand the community service it provides, thereby making the beach a safer environment for all users.'

The lifeguards recently launched a fund-raising drive and, with support from Asda and the Taj Mahal restaurant in London Road South, have secured the money needed to fund the proposed building project.

The council report concludes that change of use and conversion was considered acceptable for both the host structure and surrounding area in terms of its design and use.