Plans submitted for café and 'micro cocktail and craft ale bar' at church hall in Cleadon

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has received an application for the All Saints Church Hall at 3 Sunderland Road in Cleadon Village.

The building has previously been used by the church but was recently made “available for lease”, planning documents state.

New plans are seeking permission for a “partial change of use of the building as a community enterprise comprising a café and micro cocktail and craft ale bar”.

A heritage statement submitted with the planning application provides more details on the proposed development and notes there would be “no structural alterations” to the building’s exterior.

It was also noted that the building was not listed and that several internal alterations were proposed to bring forward the new use.

This includes the “addition of a second toilet, the installation of a bar/café area” and an “update to the kitchen space/appliances”.

Those behind the scheme stressed that no adjustment would be made to green spaces and trees, the “characteristic building and paving materials”, or the “historic layout of roads and paths” at the site.

The heritage statement adds: “The intended use as a public house/café will attract local residents and offer something new to the community”.

Submitted floor plans show a proposed ‘draft design’  for the space and how existing rooms would be re-purposed.

This includes a proposed bar in the main church hall area, as well as an area operating as a café during the day and as a ‘cocktail area’ at night.

Click here to get the Gazette’s headlines delivered to your inbox with our free email newsletters

The existing kitchen would be used as both a kitchen and alcohol store and plans indicate that an existing toilet facility would be split into “gents” and “ladies” toilets.

The planning application also states the development would include the “sale of food and drink for consumption mostly on the premises”.

A decision on the planning application will be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.

Comments can be made on the plans, via South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website, until August 27, 2024.

For more information on the plan or to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: ST/0418/24/FUL.