Northumberland's Druridge Bay The Drift Café at Cresswell plans expansion, with new restaurant and holiday accommodation

Owner Duncan Lawrence is seeking planning permission for a new restaurant building, six two-bedroom detached holiday chalets and four one-bedroom bed and breakfast chalets on land to the south-east of The Drift Café, on Druridge Bay just north of Cresswell.

The application to Northumberland County Council says that the development is ‘to cater for the expansion of this family-run business and provide suitable amenities in the Cresswell area’.

The restaurant would be 375 sq m with a slate grey tiled roof, with red-facing brick up to the eaves and timber cladding above to match the existing café.

The bed and breakfast chalets would be in a four-unit terraced building of 140 sq m, while the six detached chalets would each be 75 sq m. All would be timber-clad and there would be two new entrances off the road to serve the chalets and their parking spaces.

An expanded outdoor seating area of 300 sq m would be created between the café and restaurant, with a new outdoor seating area of 90 sq m behind the new restaurant building.

A wildlife area of 500 sq m, including a pond, would be provided at the south-eastern end of the proposed development.

A design and access statement submitted with the bid concludes that ‘the development is necessary for the expansion/improvement of the business’.

It continues: ‘The existing Drift Café is a family-run business and provides full-time and part-time employment for local people.

‘The café has expanded to the west with the provision of a car-parking area suitable for approximately 30 cars/vehicles and 10 motorbikes.

‘The parking area is where the Drift Mine is positioned. The new development will not be affected by the mine workings and there have been no known flood issues in the area in the past.

‘There is a demand for this type of development and it will encourage visitors to the Cresswell area to enjoy the pleasant countryside and beaches.’

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