'Unacceptable' shisha bar and cafe in Northampton refused planning permission despite being open since 2023

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A Northampton shisha bar and cafe has been refused planning permission despite being open since 2023.

The Bada Bing Lounge, located on Wellingborough Road next to the former St Edmund’s Hospital, has been denied planning permission by West Northants Council (WNC) after operating without approval.

The application for the site was submitted in November 2024, but according to the venue’s social media, the shisha bar and cafe opened in November 2023.

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The decision to refuse the application was made public on Tuesday (February 4).

Bada Bing Lounge, a shisha bar and cafe on Wellingborough Road, Northampton, has been denied planning permission by West Northants Council despite operating since November 2023.Bada Bing Lounge, a shisha bar and cafe on Wellingborough Road, Northampton, has been denied planning permission by West Northants Council despite operating since November 2023.
Bada Bing Lounge, a shisha bar and cafe on Wellingborough Road, Northampton, has been denied planning permission by West Northants Council despite operating since November 2023.

A WNC planning officer said the development’s design and location ‘negatively’ affect the site, ‘harm the area’s character’, and ‘impact’ nearby historic buildings, including the Grade II listed St Edmund’s Hospital and the Boot and Shoe Quarter Conservation Area, with ‘no public benefits’ to justify the harm.

The planning officer said the building’s design, with its long, pitched roof and deep seams, "is at odds" with the traditional style of the area.

The officer said: “The long mono-pitch roof with deep standing seams is at odds with the established form and character of the slated roofs on this site. The relatively low height of the building prevents it from obscuring the rooflines behind, but, as the building wraps around and in front of St Edmund’s, it compromises the setting of the historic workhouse by eroding the legibility of the original plan of the former workhouse and detracting from the elegant architectural frontage of the historic building group.”

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While the officers acknowledged that St Edmund’s Hospital is in poor condition, they stressed that this shouldn’t affect the value of the listed building.

They said: “Officers note that the St Edmund’s Hospital is currently in a state of disrepair; however, this should not diminish the significance of the listed building. The existing timber hoarding, which creates an unattractive frontage in this prominent location within the town centre, forms part of the current context of the application site. However, this should be regarded as temporary, given that it has been expected to restrict access to the site rather than as a permanent boundary treatment. The timber hoarding should therefore not be considered as providing any screening for the application building or used as a justification for this otherwise unacceptable development.”

The applicant argued that the building is removable, so the harm to the listed building would be temporary. They suggested adding a condition to ensure the structure is taken down when it’s no longer needed. However, the planning officers rejected this idea, saying there was no reasonable time frame for such a condition.

A representative from the shisha bar and cafe told Chronicle and Echo that they plan to work with WNC to try to gain approval for the development in the future.

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A WNC spokesman said: “Following this refusal of a retrospective application the council will consider its position in relation to any potential enforcement action as the development does not have planning permission as a result of the decision to refuse. The applicant does have a right to appeal against this decision within six months of the date of the decision notice.”

The shisha bar has a 4.3 out of five star rating from 59 Google reviews.

The developer responsible for transforming the former St Edmunds Hospital recently claimed that work has started on site, despite evidence suggesting little to no significant progress on the site for years.

The site, which has been empty and in a state of disrepair for years, was granted planning permission in 2017 for a large retirement village and specialist care facilities.

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