St Ives could be in line for a new café bar – but would lose two shops in the process.
Plans have been submitted to change two retail units - Sand, Sea & Surf and St Ives Gifts And Goodies on Wharf Road, St Ives – into a café bar, which would see the removal of a ground floor wall.
The building is sandwiched between popular restaurants The Rum & Crab Shack and Porthminster Kitchen, on St Ives harbour, in the Wharf Character Area of the town’s conservation area.
It is Grade II listed due to its features associated with St Ives’ history as a fishing port, which include granite rubble construction, external stone steps and slate roofs, with large planked doors.
However, the application says that over the years there have been “several phases of cumulative alterations” that were “quite extensive,” leaving the slate roof the only part of the building now unaltered from the time it was listed.
The building is accessed via external stone steps, which the plans say will remain due to their historical value. Once inside, however, everything would be on one level floor, with new facilities including an accessible washroom.
The application states: “The new café bar will provide an additional location for both locals and tourists to dine and socialise in pleasing surroundings, which ultimately would enhance the seafront with the sensitive alterations considered for the façade.
“[These include] the removal of current, less pleasing gift shop signage and trellis, in favour of a paired back, aesthetically more pleasing bi-folding window arrangement and central access entrance, with three uplighters washing the external frontage with a soft glow by evening, ultimately having a more positive, tasteful impact on the wharf.”
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It goes on to add that the proposed café bar should bolster the local economy with a “sophisticated yet accessible offer”, as well as “assist in the regeneration and economic vision for Cornwall,” including the employment of between nine and 11 people.
Inside, the new café bar would include seating to the front, a counter bar and a small store, prep kitchen and customer facilities at the back of the building.
See more details on the application, or leave a comment, via the planning portal on Cornwall Council’s website, under reference PA24/01066.
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