Plans for a new £1 million seafood restaurant located in Sidmouth's historic Drill Hall could create around 30-40 new local jobs.

A planning application was submitted to East Devon District Council at the end of last week by Rockfish, a chain of seafood restaurants already operating in Exmouth, Exeter and Plymouth.

The decision on whether or not to approve the application will be made by the local planning authority, East Devon District Council, in consultation with local stakeholders including, Sidmouth Town Council, East Devon AONB, Environmental Health and Devon County Council's Highway Authority.

According to the planning application the restaurant would operate largely within the form of the existing building.

Apart from the addition of a balcony on the front elevation and single storey extension at the rear to contain the service rooms.

To make the building compliant with building regulations, the external envelope will be wrapped in a layer of thermal insulation, with weather resistant cladding board over the top to protect the 'historic fabric of the building from further erosion and decay'.

According to the plans: "The existing first floor will be converted to a small bar area, with an internal opening created between the chimney breast piers to allow views out over the main restaurant.

"The external window openings in this space will be taken down to floor level to provide access to a new balcony in line with that of the Port Royal Sailing and Angling Club, which will provide a small number of outdoor seats."

The primary dining space will be in the main hall and four new windows will be installed along the Eastern wall to bring in as much sunlight as possible, while preserving the original interior as much as possible.

Rockfish is a highly successful group of family seafood restaurants based on England's South Coast.

The group is run by Mitch Tonks, a seafood chef, restaurateur and author well known for the success of his London chain of Seafood restaurants FishWorks as well as his TV show with Matt Dawson and the work he does promoting the qualities of UK seafood and life in our coastal towns and in particular the South West.

In 2007 Mitch established the Seahorse restaurant in Dartmouth. The Seahorse is a high end seafood restaurant which quickly established itself as one of the best in the UK, winning best seafood restaurant in the UK in the good food guide and also the Observer Food Monthly's restaurant of the year.

In a statement submitted with the planning application a spokesperson for Rockfish said: "Being a total enthusiast for seafood and a father of five Mitch wanted to set up a seafood restaurant that would appeal to everyone, not a fish and chip shop but somewhere that traditional cod and haddock could sit amongst other species and the local seafood for which the South West is famed.

"With inspiration drawn from New England and Australia the first Rockfish was opened in Dartmouth in 2009. It became and instant hit due to the offer of great fish with great wines in a cool beach shack style environment complete with log burner for the colder months."

Rockfish now have venues in Plymouth, Torquay, Brixham, Exmouth, Exeter Quay and Weymouth.

"With our proven track record and our focus on quality, family and sustainability, we believe Rockfish is the right fit for Sidmouth which being by the water will provide a perfect destination for people to travel to and eat fresh seafood. As with all our other restaurants we will create 30-40 local full and part time jobs. The investment into Rockfish Sidmouth will be in excess of £1million in total."

The Drill Hall was built in 1895 to house the 4th Sidmouth Volunteer Battalion Devonshire Regiment after they were forced to leave their original drilling place in the Town Hall.

The land for the new hall was donated by Sidmouth resident Mr J G G Radford, and designed in an Italian Renaissance style by honorary architect Mr James Jerman of Exeter.

The building had been used consistently as a Drill Hall from the time of construction in 1895 until the Sidmouth branch of the Territorial Army adopted it as their headquarters in 1959. It also served as a cinema from its opening, and hosted Sidmouth's Summer Pavilion in 1923.

Later it was used for a variety of community purposes, providing a space for music, sports events and local group meetings to take place.

It also has historic ties to Sidmouth Folk Festival, housing the English Folk Dance and Song Society in a marquee erected next to the hall from 1955.