Bar on site of old chapel set to be approved (From York Press)
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Bar on site of former chapel in Little Stonegate set to be approved
9:29am Tuesday 4th December 2012 in News
By Mark Stead, mark.stead@thepress.co.uk
PLANS for a new bar and restaurant on the site of a former chapel in the centre of York could be given the go-ahead this week.
The listed 161-year-old building in Little Stonegate, linked to the former Borders store, has been earmarked for a new eating-out spot. The proposals will go before a City of York Council planning meeting tomorrow.
The scheme has been drawn up by Leeds-based ARC Inspirations LLP. It focuses on the former Methodist chapel, which became a printworks in 1901. The firm said it hopes to gain a licence for an outside dining area if planning permission is granted.
Council planners have recommended the application for approval, although the Guildhall planning panel has objected.
Members say the proposals will mean retail space is lost. Other objections claim the area is becoming “dominated” by bars and this has led to more noise and late-night disturbance.
ARC Insprations LLP already runs restaurants and bars in Leeds and Harrogate and its application said the company had been searching for a site in York for several years before focusing on the three-storey Little Stonegate building.
Planning permission for a youth cafe on part of the site was granted last year, but this has not moved forward.
A report by development management officer Jonathan Kenyon said the building had been vacant since Borders closed in 2010, since when fashion chain Cult has moved into the Davygate side of the site.
It said the design of the former chapel and printworks “does not lend itself to retail use”, and the fact it had been empty for almost three years meant the restaurant scheme would not harm the “vitality of this part of the city-centre”.
“While there is a concern that adding to the number of bars and restaurants in the area will increase late-night disturbance, this is a city-centre location and the impact has to be weighed against the public benefit of bringing the listed building back into use,” the report said.
It has yet to be confirmed which restaurant operator may open in Little Stonegate or how many jobs may be created if the plans are approved.
Comments(12)
The OX
says...
10:21am Tue 4 Dec 12
meme
says...
11:14am Tue 4 Dec 12
ts etc
Go to any major tourist city and its the same. Its the public and the policing that's at fault... not the bars themselves.
Punish bad uns properly and we wont have any issues but at the moment its all too soft and people can be drunk and told to go home which they dont
Make a few examples and then we will get behaviour we can accept but dont stop the bars etc from opening as they are vital for our local economy
bolero
says...
11:56am Tue 4 Dec 12
meme wrote:Yes, exactly. That's why we don't want them. You've exemplified the problem beautifully.
We are a tourist City so we need bars/cafes/restauran ts etc Go to any major tourist city and its the same. Its the public and the policing that's at fault... not the bars themselves. Punish bad uns properly and we wont have any issues but at the moment its all too soft and people can be drunk and told to go home which they dont Make a few examples and then we will get behaviour we can accept but dont stop the bars etc from opening as they are vital for our local economy
The OX
says...
12:16pm Tue 4 Dec 12
meme wrote:York is full of bars/clubs/restauran
We are a tourist City so we need bars/cafes/restauran
ts etc
Go to any major tourist city and its the same. Its the public and the policing that's at fault... not the bars themselves.
Punish bad uns properly and we wont have any issues but at the moment its all too soft and people can be drunk and told to go home which they dont
Make a few examples and then we will get behaviour we can accept but dont stop the bars etc from opening as they are vital for our local economy
ts that are closing down because of no business, who would pay for the extra policing yes York Tax payers, we would welcome more tourist in the city, but they wont come because of the night life in York, its all down to cost
Ousetunes
says...
1:06pm Tue 4 Dec 12
xtc
says...
1:46pm Tue 4 Dec 12
xtc
says...
1:47pm Tue 4 Dec 12
xtc wrote:Sorry all cafes I ll leave the birds alone....lol!
Another bar too far we don't need any more bars,chafes and restaurants half go out of biz anyway.
lexon2
says...
12:31pm Wed 5 Dec 12
York is a city that depends heavily on tourism. There is a clear wish amongst planners to grow the high-end hotel market and attract tourists who will spend freely in a wide range of businesses across the city, including quality independent shops.
The danger is that as more and more premises compete to attract early hours customers the City will drop downmarket, year on year. This is something that has happened to many towns and cities in Europe and elsewhere.
The sad fact is that large numbers of drinkers in the city centre in the early hours result in increases in anti-social behaviour, window smashing, vomiting, urinating, litter, etc which increase costs for residents in Policing and Cleaning and can increase the costs of others doing business. To pretend otherwise is to ignore reality.
York can't survive on student and local and visiting drinkers alone. A balance is needed but who is ensuring that this is provided.
meme
says...
3:45pm Wed 5 Dec 12
This is an issue for policing, as I said before. The police should act harshly to miscreants and then they would soon stop being bad.
our city is one for tourists so we have to provide for them all Youngsters stay out late in cheaper places oldies go home earlier and are more sedate.All can happily co exist so long as we all have resopect for each other and if we dont then you should be severely punished
rogue84
says...
3:50pm Wed 5 Dec 12
i understand the people who say they don't want another bar/cafe/restaurant in york city centre, but what else would you have? a touristy shop selling trinkets etc - plenty of those. a clothes shop - plenty of those too.....what would everyone, ideally, like to see opening in york?
bolero
says...
7:06pm Wed 5 Dec 12
rogue84 wrote:How about a decent butcher's shop, a nice deli or a decent greengrocers. We used to have all of these but sadly they closed. What we do not want are more premises with encouragement for inconsiderate yobs to get themselves into a state of inebriation which has a resultant effect on tourists and other law abiding citizens as they try to go about their everyday business without being abused or having to dodge pools of vomit and urine in the streets and the offensive stench as they pass shop doorways and snicketts.
i'm presuming mulberry hall will be complaining about this?! i understand the people who say they don't want another bar/cafe/restaurant in york city centre, but what else would you have? a touristy shop selling trinkets etc - plenty of those. a clothes shop - plenty of those too.....what would everyone, ideally, like to see opening in york?
bolero says...
9:50am Tue 4 Dec 12