Go-ahead for former Barclays bank in Sawbridgeworth to become live entertainment venue

Plans for a live entertainment venue in a “quiet, family-oriented street” in Sawbridgeworth have been approved, despite opposition from residents and councillors.

Planning applications for the former Barclays bank at 28 Knight Street, which were submitted in 2023, were voted through by East Herts Council’s (EHC) development management committee at its meeting on Wednesday (December 4).

The venue – expected to be known as The Vault – is hoping to serve alcohol and hot food. It still needs licensing approval from the council.

While it could have operated as a restaurant without planning permission, agreement from the council was needed for a change of use to become a live entertainment venue or bar.

The proposed opening hours are 8am until 11pm Sundays to Thursdays and 8am until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Council officers had recommended that permission be granted, citing a “significant public benefit” from bringing the grade II listed building back into public use.

But councillors – including some planning committee members – and members of the public raised concerns about the plans.

One member of the public, Sarah Glover, was among those to speak at the meeting. She warned that “anti-social behaviour” may follow the opening of the venue, and said: “Should we as a community have to put up with social disorder?

“Should the primary school [Fawbert & Barnard Infants] opposite have to put up with discarded drinks and broken glass in the morning as children arrive at school?”

Cllr Nathan Parsad-Wyatt, chair of Sawbridgeworth Town Council’s planning committee, spoke from the public seats to say the plan would bring “significant harm” to residents.

Objectors raised concerns about the impact of noise on residents, about a lack of parking at the site and in its immediate vicinity, and a lack of a plan for dealing with rubbish from the venue.

Outside seating is proposed to be added at the back of the pub, though officers said its size will be “limited”.

No objections to the proposals were raised by EHC’s environmental health (EH) department. EH officer Claire Spendley told councillors the conditions around reducing noise at the venue would be the “most stringent” possible, requiring no noise to be audible at any nearby home.

There was also a dispute around whether the area was residential or a mix of commercial and residential, and therefore whether the plans were suitable for the location.

Council officers said the area was “mixed use”, citing the Queen’s Head pub next door and other nearby businesses.

But Cllr Angus Parsad-Wyatt, who represents the ward on EHC, told the committee the plans would “fundamentally change the character of this quiet, family-oriented street” and warned it would set “a dangerous precedent”. He had called the application before the committee for a final decision.

His concerns were echoed by several councillors, including Bishop’s Stortford Liberal Democrat Cllr Sarah Copley, who said it would be “completely out of keeping” with the area, and Cllr Vicky Smith (Green, Hertford Bengeo), who described the street as “predominantly residential”.

Cllr Ruth Buckmaster (Con, Sawbridgeworth), the only representative of the town on the development management committee, said it was a “residential area” and added that she “frequently” gets complaints from residents about the Queen’s Head when it occasionally plays live music.

One committee member to disagree was Cllr Yvonne Estop (Lab, Bishop’s Stortford Central), who said that Knight Street is “a busy part of a vibrant town” and added: “If you live in a town centre, which effectively people do, then you have to expect that there’s activity as well as residential.”

She added that she supported approving the plans “in principle”, but proposed delaying a decision on the development until more information was provided about exactly what kind of ‘live entertainment’ the applicant hoped to offer.

But her proposal was voted down because the deadline for a decision – already extended once – was only a week after the meeting and would require the applicant’s agreement.

The applicant did not attend the meeting to answer questions from councillors.

Councillors did vote to add a condition requiring the venue to avoid deliveries around school opening and closing times.

They also voted in favour of granting listed building consent for changes to be made to the inside of the building.