Coffee Lounge in Holbeach aims to fil the void left by Laddies with new extended hours

A cafe will be able to serve ice-cream later into the evening after being given the go-ahead to extend its opening hours.

The Coffee Lounge in Holbeach wants to fill the gap left by Laddies Ices – which closed last year after more than 100 years of serving the town – by being able to remain open for later.

South Holland District Council has now approved an application to extend the cafe’s opening hours by amending a planning condition from its original planning permission, which was granted last year.

The decision notice states: “The proposed variation in opening hours will have a limited impact upon residential amenity. Due to the town centre location there is an assumed increased level in noise and foot traffic at all times of the day.

“The increase of the cafe opening times would not increase this level of noise and foot traffic by an unacceptable level, it should be noted that the extended opening hours are in line with competitors in the locality and are not considered to be extensive.

“The development hereby does not materially harm the character or appearance of the locality or amenity of the nearby residents and provides adequate parking, while conforming with the South East Lincolnshire Local Plan and the provisions of the National Planning Policy Framework.

“In this instance there are no material considerations that weigh against the proposal and as such, the planning balance is in favour of the the development.”

Previously, the cafe’s opening hours were restricted to 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 4pm on Saturdays.

The new opening hours are:

October 1 to April 30: Monday to Saturday from 7.30am to 5pm and 10am to 4pm on Sundays, including Bank Holidays

May 1 to September 30: Monday to Wednesday from 7.30am to 5pm with 7.30am to 7pm on Thursdays to Sundays. On occasional Thursdays to Sundays, the cafe will be open until 10pm once or twice a month due to local events.

The statement submitted with the application states: “This will allow The Coffee Lounge to trade and sell ice-cream to later hours within the summer months. The hours have been taken from the recently closed Laddies shop which was well-known and these times were very successful for the business.”

Laddies Ices served up the last scoops of its famous ice-cream in Holbeach on January 31 last year when the Church Street shop closed for the final time.

It was founded more than a hundred years ago by William Ladbrooke.

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