Shock plan to make Lynn PO a pub
ONE of the fastest- growing pub chains in the country has earmarked Lynn's former Baxters Plain Post Office as the site for a new bar and restaurant in an investment which could cost in the region of £1 million.
The Barracuda Group has just submitted plans to convert the historic building in Blackfriars Street into one of its Smith and Jones-style pubs in a move which would create 35 new jobs in the town.
The company hopes the scheme will add to its portfolio of more than 200 bars and restaurants across the UK, while becoming the first Barrauda pub in Norfolk.
At present its nearest pubs are in Wisbech and Boston.
A statement from D2 Planning, the agents handling the application, reads: "The applicants are a national leisure operator and this proposal will assist in increasing the leisure offer within the town centre and the evening economy.
"The investment that they will provide will result in increased confidence in Lynn and will attract other national retailers and leisure operators to the town centre."
The controversial closure of Baxters Plain Post Office was met with huge public opposition before its doors finally closed in September, when services were transferred to the town's WH Smith store.
The Crown Post Office network said the cost-cutting measure was vital as the company was losing around 70 million a year but the future of the building has been unclear until now.
The Barracuda Group operates five different trading formats and describes a Smith and Jones-style pub as "the ideal spot for an after-work wind down, a meal with friends or family or simply to have a great night out."
If the plans are approved the facades that flank the building will remain as they are but there will be an opportunity to create a more modern feel at the front by replacing the ground floor windows and entrance doors to create a modern twist.
The application comes just weeks after Lynn Civic Society saw its bid to protect the historic site with listed building status rejected.
A report from English Heritage states the building does not represent an important milestone in the development of post office architecture and does not have the historic interest to merit listing.
Civic society secretary Sally Smith told the Lynn News: "We are very disappointed it has not been listed and we are just hoping that the owners appreciate the quality of the building and what is there, while making a bar and restaurant that will fit in without having to destroy the original design.
"They have an interesting and individual building and it would be a tragedy to destroy that, commercially it would not be sensible as they have something that is different and unusual."
The scheme comes at a time when Lynn's pub and club scene has suffered a number of closures.
In February the Hogshead, on High Street, closed its doors for the last time with owners the Laurel Pub Company stating it had struggled with the impact of the smoking ban and difficult trading conditions.Presnell's Club, in Milfleet, followed suit two weeks later when leaseholders Will and Alice Presnell left the premises, while February also saw the closure of LXIX deli and bar, on Broad Street, less than a year after it opened.
Zoots nightclub began the trend after it unexpectedly closed at the end of January, when area manager Dave Keetley told the Lynn News it was a temporary break for refurbishment but could not give a date for the re-opening.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Sunday 27 May 2012
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