A former church in Cowes looks set to be transformed into a Loungers café, bar and restaurant – a sister site to Correo Lounge in Newport.
Loungers UK has submitted a planning application to the Isle of Wight Council seeking full planning permission for a change of use of Cowes Methodist Church on Birmingham Road.
The application hopes the local authority will agree to change the use from Class F1(f) to Class E(b), including full internal fit-out refurbishment works, transforming the disused building into a vibrant restaurant.
Loungers UK Limited operates over 230 sites across the country through 2 brands, The Lounges and The Cosy Clubs. The Lounges are located in suburbs and market towns – such as Newport – and are run as café/bar/restaurants offering food from 09:00 until 22:30.
Cowes Methodist Church ceased being used for religious purposes in 2016. Since then, the property has only been used occasionally by hirers for such things as band rehearsals and occasional meetings. Despite various marketing exercises, there has been no interest from religious institutions in purchasing the property.
The church was built in 1900/1901 at a cost of £8,000 and was partially funded by Queen Victoria, who donated £20.
Should the Isle of Wight Council grant permission, the opening of a Lounge in Cowes is expected to create between 30 and 35 new jobs for the local community.
A decision is expected by 18th November.
This is what residents of Birmingham Road and Westhill Road, many of whom live just a few feet from the church, have been dreading. They are applying to operate 16 hours a day with a license which runs until 12.30am – with outside dining/drinking, security on the door etc etc. Such a major operation (the church is massive) will dramatically impact the lives of neighbours, increase noise (patrons, bins, extractors, deliveries etc etc) and nuisance and change the area permanently – it will effectively become an extension of the high street. The Licensing hearing will take place this Friday at 10.30am (at the Town Hall). I would urge any one who is worried about the impact of a major chain restaurant taking over a relatively peaceful end of town to respond to the planning application with their objections – stressing how it might negatively impact them.
30 – 35 new jobs? The much needed employment sounds like a winner to me.
Does Cowes really need yet another restaurant/bar? Honestly? Lots of reasons to answer a resounding ‘no’.
It’s only yards from the Duke of York’s, where there’s plenty of opportunity to drink and carouse till the small hours if you so choose – not to mention the Basque Kitchen just down the road.
There are plenty of other places to eat and drink in Cowes and only one – the frightful Costa – is part of a big chain: all the others are local enterprises and deserve our custom.
OK, in about six weeks of summer the town is rammed, but otherwise the local businesses often struggle to survive – they don’t need another competitor which is anyway unnecessary. What can they possibly offer that you couldn’t find elsewhere in the High Street?
There must be other more suitable uses for such a splendid building. If I were chair at Trinity Theatre I’d sell their building for a fortune and convert the church – the acoustics will be better and it’s an excellent location.
Come on Cowes – use your imagination!!
If they get the go ahead let’s hope it’s filled with the right spirit
Loungers’ cover letter in their planning application says “The former Methodist Church is located in the town centre of Cowes, a vibrant tourist destination.”
They are wrong on both counts. The church is in a neighbourhood, surrounded by permanent residents. It is not in the town centre. And Cowes is really only a “vibrant tourist destination” in summer.
The church building needs to be developed for the community. I really like the suggestion of it becoming a theatre as suggested by another reader. Or a community day centre.
Regarding jobs, I read their reviews on Indeed and won’t be applying.
To anyone who thinks this is a fun idea, do you live in front of, to the side of or behind the church? Will you be kept awake late at night when you really need to get some sleep, by the sounds of an outdoor restaurant; the loud chatting and laughing, the clinking of glasses and cutlery (the ‘dripping-tap torture of it), the big bins being filled and emptied, the constant whirr of the kitchen chimney and cellar cooling fans, the deliveries, the cigarette smoke, the music (which may become live music). Remember when it’s impossible to sleep at night during a heatwave unless you have the windows open? That won’t be possible for the 50-100 people that will have to put up with this place. This is not the right area for it. Loungers are usually always in the middle of big high streets and retail zones or inside shopping malls. This is a quiet neighbourhood. They are being bullies. Any quick search will show you how they ride roughshod over residents concerns (and always mug the licensing and planning depts of the local councils). Still think it’s a great idea?
Birmingham Rd has always been mixed business and residential. This is a beautiful, old building that deserves to be preserved and enjoyed but it doesn’t have the age or history to be given preservation status. I’m a supporter of finding new, relevant uses for lovely old buildings and I, for one, will enjoy eating there. A theatre would be great but it could not generate the income needed to maintain such a splendid building. The only other option would be for it to fall into disrepair and become an eyesore. Look at Sandown!
This neighbourhood has many homes and flats with a few quiet businesses that don’t stay open late. This is completely different to what is being proposed.
West Hill Road, directly behind the church, is 100% residential. Some of the homes are only 1 metre from the church building.
The huge scale of the venue and its close proximity to many residents would create a substantial public nuisance, not just in the evening but all day long.
This is very inconsiderate of you Delilah45 towards those who live around the church and whose sleeping patterns will be disrupted and dictated to.
All day and night the constant mix of the kitchen fans, air conditioning units, cellar cooling units, commercial wheelie bins, people chatting, laughing, drinking, smoking deliveries, taxis, will be a form of torture and create sleep deprivation. It will be ceaseless, relentless from 10am to half past midnight (more like 1.30am when silence returns) not just for a week like Cowes Week, but every day, every year.
When you move into a high street or town centre you know what you are getting into. When you move into a quiet neighbourhood you don’t expect it to become a busy noisy place.
You wouldn’t be making your comment if you lived here and were worrying about the future, your job, your mental health, etc.
That’s very personal, calling me inconsiderate. You know nothing about me. I used to live on a busy high street with fostered children and regular late night noise. I strongly recommend the wonders of double glazing. If this is not a suitable development for the area, then the council will hopefully follow due process and turn it down. That’s not my department. I’m fed up with seeing the islands beautiful buildings left to rot and become home to druggies and arsonists. I’m interested though; what would you do with it?