Caffe Nero pushes for town centre site

By awilshaw

A SHOP which has sat for more than a year unused — filled with building materials — in one of the most prominent and historic locations in Barnstaple could still become a cafe, if plans are approved.

Builders employed by coffee shop chain Caffe Nero were forced to stop work on a new cafe, on the corner of Butchers Row and High Street, in early 2008 by North Devon Council because the business did not have the necessary planning permission.

In September a Caffe Nero spokesman said the business was working closely with the planning authority to make sure that all the necessary permissions were in place before the builders resumed work "soon".

Since then, paper copies of Caffe Nero's plans have remained visible through the shop windows, where they were left laid out by builders.

This week, Caffe Nero has submitted three connected applications to the council: for alterations to the shop front; for listed building consent for alterations; and for permission to install signs.

Caffe Nero wants to strip out the shop's interior and use mahogany for a new shop front.

According to the firm's planning application "there are no internal physical features of architectural importance" in the shop.

Caffe Nero said it aimed to integrate with the "local environment and culture" and the cafe chain's "identity" used "cues from Italy's rich history of architecture, art and culture, fused with contemporary Italian style".

But the firm said it did not want to replicate an Italian cafe in Barnstaple, because that would be "fake", so it had created a "theme of real Italian people living and working in Britain and through the use of photography and colour produced an Italian feel that uses Italian cues in a new way".

In the application, the firm admits there has been "no liaison with local community for this proposal" but they had tried to make the scheme fit with adjacent tenants.

Local traders were furious last year when a different coffee shop chain, Costa Coffee, opened a cafe in Barnstaple High Street without planning permission for change of use and listed building consent.

However the firm denied that it had breached the planning laws.

As well as a number of independent, local, cafes in Barnstaple, there is also now athe Costa Coffee and a Boston Tea Party outlet.

Members of the public can comment on the proposals at http://planning.northdevon.gov.uk

The consultation period ends on Thursday, July 2.