Plans submitted to use former public toilets in Northampton town centre as shop

A former public toilet building in Northampton could be used as a shop if a plan gets the go-ahead.

The site of the unused loos, at the junction of Cattle Market Road and Bridge Street, has previously been the subject of two applications that would have involved the building’s demolition.

The shop would be open seven days a week. The nature of what would be sold in the former Northampton Borough Council (NBC) building is not disclosed in documents submitted to West Northamptonshire Council (WNC).

In 2017, a plan for five one-bedroom flats was refused by NBC and an appeal was dismissed. In 2019, another plan for four one-bedroom flats was turned down by NBC planning officers.

They said the site of the toilets is a “historic entrance” to Northampton town centre, particularly because of its closeness to the Latimer and Crick building. They added the “scale, height [and] design” of the proposed flats would have been inappropriate.

The new shop would use the current building. Its proposed opening hours are 7am until 11pm every day of the week and on bank holidays. A decision will be made by WNC planning officers in due course.