Scarborough Starbucks’ plan for street café approved despite police concerns about ‘disrupting residents’
Scarborough’s Starbucks has been given permission for a street café at its new venue despite concerns about “creating conflict” between residents and customers.
North Yorkshire Council has given the go-ahead to a proposal to convert the pavement outside Scarborough coffee shop into a ‘street café with more than a dozen seats.
Plans submitted by the Magic Bean Company said that proposals for the site, located in the town’s conservation area, would enhance the “vibrancy and appeal of Huntriss Row by providing an attractive and functional outdoor seating area for customers”.
The seating area will be operated in line with the café’s opening hours, from 6.30am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and 7.30am to 6pm on Sundays.
While no objections were made, some concerns were raised by North Yorkshire Police’s designing out crime officer.
The officer noted that the development is in “an area with relatively high crime and disorder levels”.
They added: “The types of crime associated with a development of this kind include an offender picking up a sign from outside a café and attempting to use it as a weapon, causing damage to the sign, and an offender picking up a chair from outside a café and smashing it on the pavement.”
NYP also recommended that the planning authority “consider imposing a later start time” to the use of the outdoor cafe to avoid conflicts between residents and customers.
The police officer said: “The proposed operating hours have an early start time, which may disrupt local residents.
“This has the potential to create conflict between residents and customers using the seating area.”
However, council planners disagreed and said that the proposed operating hours were appropriate.
A planning officer noted: “The café is located in an area with a relatively low proportion of residential accommodation, therefore, it is considered unlikely that the use of the outdoor seating area would result in disruption to local residents.
“Additionally, the small scale of the outdoor seating area, with a 14-person capacity, means that the potential noise disturbance would be limited.”
A council report concluded that the impact of the development on the conservation area would “not detract from its character and appearance”.
The development was approved by North Yorkshire Council subject to conditions.