JD Wetherspoon lodges fresh plan for its North Street pub in Bourne to include larger beer garden
PUB chain JD Wetherspoon has lodged fresh plans for its delayed £2.5m project in Bourne that include a larger beer garden.
The move will create 45 jobs and forms part of the company’s national strategy to target smaller towns and cities that have seen a decline in investment.
It had already secured planning permission to convert two adjacent shops at 44-48 North Street into a pub in 2018.
The company said in September that it planned to start work in November 2019 with a planned opening of April this year but the amended application means this will now be pushed back.
Tweaked proposals have been submitted to South Kesteven District Council (SKDC) to allow Wetherspoon to use more of the site.
Company documents state that the new plan is to extend the premises into the tarmacked parking area “to create a bigger customer area, and external seating area”.
Papers also reveal the company plans to show off the history of the area by displaying local history artwork as well as art and sculptures by local artists. There will also be new fireplaces.
Company spokesman Eddie Gershon told this newspaper that around 45 jobs would be created. The investment is said to be worth around £2.5m.
He added: “Wetherspoon is as keen as ever to open a pub in Bourne. It believes a Wetherspoon pub will be popular and also be an asset to the town’s social scene.”
The application also includes pledges from the company that it will have a zero tolerance policy towards alcohol-related crime and disorder, as it does in all of its 875 pubs nationwide.
The business is part of the National Pubwatch organisation which supports local Pubwatch schemes throughout the country and helps set them up where needed.
Many premises also operate the ‘Banned from One - Banned from All’ initiative and subscribe to the RadioLink scheme which provides radio contact with other licensed operators and town centre CCTV operators.
The new pub in Bourne forms part of a four-year plan by JD Wetherspoon which will see around £200million invested into new and existing venues nationwide.
With new pubs in towns like Diss, Ely, and Felixstowe as well as cities such as Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds, it is expected that around 10,000 jobs will be created.
Wetherspoon's founder and chairman, Tim Martin, said previously: "We are especially pleased that a large proportion of the investment will be in smaller towns and cities which have, in recent years, seen a decline in investment.”
The pub chain’s new plans for Bourne will be considered by SKDC’s planning team in due course.