Borough of Poole: Matt Annen has recently secured a Certificate of Lawfulness for a proposed cafe on the ground floor at Birds Hill Nursing Home in Poole. The existing use of the building is a residential care home (Use Class C2). The space which this application related to was previously underused space and used as a staff room/training room/break out room. The owners felt that the proposed cafe would provide an additional facility for residents, family members, visiting friends and staff enabling a more private one-on-one space as opposed to using the communal lounges in the building. 

Under The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) a cafe is Use Class C3. Given that the floor area for the cafe was small in comparison to the floor area of the nursing home and that the cafe would be used by residents of the nursing home, family members and visiting friends and staff; and is within an area which was previously used as a staff room with kitchen facilities, the appointed planning officer confirmed that the proposed cafe would not constitute a material change of use of the building. The building would remain as a single planning unit which is a nursing home and the cafe element would be incidental to the primary use of the unit. The cafe would be ancillary to the nursing home by offering a supplementary service to the residents of the nursing home. The planning officer concluded that the proposed cafe would not constitute a material change of use of the building and granted the Certificate by the target determination date.

Conversion works are already underway and we look forward to seeing the finished space. 

If you have a commercial premises and would like to seek confirmation that how you use (or would like to use) part of the building, then contact Pure Town Planning for a confidential, free initial consultation.