Another Morpeth town centre business applies for outdoor seating
More outdoor seating could be on its way to Morpeth town centre.
The FIKA art gallery in Oldgate, which also includes a café and workshops, has submitted a planning application for an external customer seating area that would consist of five tables and 20 seats.
The bid also includes a 1.8m fence, gravel surfacing, a timber planter, a new access door and external lighting.
If approved, this would add to the outdoor seating area at Gran Caffé Lollo on Bridge Street to the rear of the premises. Gran Caffé Lollo’s plans were recently given the green light by Northumberland County Council.
The FIKA application is for an area of rear courtyard space at the premises.
The seating would be arranged around a small number of café-style tables, with space between individual groupings.
The planning statement, one of the documents submitted to the council, includes the following: “The proposal seeks to provide a modest outdoor seating area associated with an established hospitality business, thereby improving the facilities available to existing customers and increasing the attractiveness and functionality of the premises.
“As an ancillary extension to the established café operation, the development would reinforce an existing customer-facing use and contribute towards the vitality and viability of the town centre.
“The tables are grouped rather than distributed across the full yard, limiting the spread of activity and allowing the retained parts of the yard to continue to accommodate other essential functions.
“The proposal is subsidiary to the principal premises, does not alter the street frontage and does not involve the erection of a substantial new building.”