Former Wisbech funeral directors base to become café and flats
A former funeral directors' shop which has stood empty for almost a decade is to get a new lease of life.Approval has been granted to convert the building in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, to be converted into a café and two residential flats.The developer said the plan would bring the empty property on Norwich Road back into use and create employment.Wisbech Town Council has supported the project but raised concerns about parking provision in the area.
It is believed the unusual building, with a circular tower structure on one side, has been disused since 2016.The Local Democracy Reporting Service said permission was granted in 2021 to convert it into flats, but the plan was never implemented.The latest proposal involves raising the roof to accommodate two flats.In planning documents, developer Ming He said: ""The site did have planning permission to remove the vast majority of the commercial element and change it into flats."The current proposal will therefore have a community benefit, allowing what has been an empty property for some time to be brought back into use, as well as the potential to create employment and a café."
There has been some support for the proposal, with one neighbour describing it as "a solid idea"."The building's been sitting empty for too long, so it's great to see it getting used," they said. "A café would be a vibe since there's nothing like it around here. Hope this goes through."However, the town council said it had some concerns about the impact of the development on parking in the area.Fenland District Council granted permission for the work to create the café and two flats, subject to conditions, including for work to start within three years.
Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Fears Trump could sink US-UK nuclear subs deal after President ordered review into pact intended to secure the Pacific against Chinese aggression
Royal Navy chiefs voiced concerns last night after Donald Trump ordered a review of the nuclear submarine pact between the UK, the US and Australia. Aukus, as the joint project is known, is intended to secure the Pacific against Chinese aggression and involves multi-billion-pound commitments to build new nuclear-powered submarines. The Ministry of Defence announced its intention to build up to 12 submarines for Aukus and other operations as part of last week's Strategic Defence Review. But these plans have been thrown into doubt after the US defence department announced a review to ensure Aukus meets the President's 'America First' agenda. Relations between the US and Australia have soured over tariffs. America has also demanded Australia increase defence spending and wants to sell older submarines to Australia on favourable terms. Another cause for concern is the review is being led by Aukus sceptic Elbridge Colby, who is close to President Trump. Last night former head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Lord West said: 'Aukus is extremely important for the strategic situation in the Pacific and very important for Britain as a way of us moving into our next generation of submarines. 'The US had had concerns about selling its submarines to Australia, so it is not entirely unexpected that President Trump would want to look at this. Hopefully this can be resolved and we all move on together as part of the alliance.' The deal is regarded as a pillar of security co-operation. But concerns have been raised in the US over the rate of submarine production and Australia's reluctance to commit to a 'no holds barred' response to a Chinese attack on Taiwan. The US is committed to selling up to five boats to Australia, vessels which many in the US believe should be retained by the US Navy.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Anger as Middletons' friend and former Reading FC chairman Sir John Madejski's name is stripped from school he gave £3million to
His life and career have followed an epic trajectory, from a grim start – illegitimate and taken into foster care – to a knighthood, immense riches and an invitation to a royal wedding in 2011, when Prince William married Kate Middleton, whose parents were by then among his closest friends. But, for all his commercial success and his extraordinary acts of philanthropy, which earned him the name 'Mr Reading' in his Berkshire hometown – not to mention his transformation of the fortunes of Reading FC – Sir John Madejski has reflected that 'the greatest accomplishment' of his life was financing and creating The John Madejski Academy. Yet I can disclose that his name is now to be erased from the school, opened by Tony Blair in 2008, after Sir John had donated what insiders tell me was as much as £3million for its new building, which was shortlisted for an award at that year's World Architecture Festival. The decision – taken after a 'consultation' by the Greenshaw Learning Trust which assumed control of the Academy earlier this year– has caused dismay and disgust among Sir John's friends, including Judy, Lady McAlpine, who tells me that she's 'not upset but livid'. Insiders are similarly appalled by the treatment of Reading's greatest living benefactor and by what they allege is a lack of transparency. 'The local governing body was asked for its opinion but the ultimate decision was taken by the Greenshaw Trust's governing body for all the 50 or so schools it controls,' one tells me. 'It's lamentable and disrespectful. He's been a great friend to Reading and to education. 'He was asked to build a school in London, but he wanted to build it in Reading, where his heart is.' The change of name – due in September – will not, adds the insider, 'have a remarkable beneficial effect', and flies in the face of Reading's history, where many schools bear benefactors' names, such as George Palmer School – 'named after George Palmer, of the famous biscuit factory'. 'Sir John's name is written in stone on the outside of the school. Taking it off will be expensive. And the change of uniform will be an expense to the Trust, which I understand will be paying, not parents.' The Greenshaw Trust does not respond to inquiries, but Sir John, 84, tells me that he wishes it and all at the school – teachers and students alike – 'every success for the future'. He adds: 'I personally believe that the resources spent on the name change could have been directed toward more impactful initiatives for the school.' Might be worth listening to. He did, after all, go from being an encyclopaedia salesman to an entrepreneur with a fortune of a few hundred million. Joanna: My battles with 'vile' Mitford Actress Joanna Vanderham was left lost for words while playing Diana Mitford, the socialite who married Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, in forthcoming television drama Outrageous. The six-part UKTV series is based on the lives of the six aristocratic and rebellious Mitford sisters. Vanderham, 34, says she was uncomfortable at having to use the 'vile' language of Diana (pictured below). 'It was very difficult to deliver those lines,' Vanderham tells me at the show's premiere at Picturehouse Central in London. 'I usually try and get myself into the headspace of why someone does something. That's why I love my job, the psychology of it. 'But, with this, it was like I couldn't get the lines out. We had to do take after take after take, because it was like my brain had a mental block of, like, this is horrible.' Stone me! Jo bumps into ex Ronnie in Bahamas Rolling stones star Ronnie Wood divorced his wife, Jo, back in 2009, but it's proving hard to escape her. Former Strictly contestant Jo, 70, tells me that she had a shock when she went on a recent holiday to the Bahamas – and ended up staying in the same hotel as the guitarist, 78. 'I'd only been there a day and I walked into the hotel restaurant and there was Ronnie with his wife and kids,' she says. 'You should have seen his face when he saw me.' Ronnie is now married to theatre producer Sally Humphreys, 31 years his junior, with whom he has twin daughters. Jo adds: 'I'm no stalker.' Predatory men in showbusiness have a new method of targeting attractive young women, claims The Inbetweeners Movie star Jessica Knappett. 'I really worry about podcasting now,' the actress says. 'A man can say, 'Come and record my podcast with me', and you turn up and it can just be you and him.' Knappett, 40, adds: 'That's happened to me, not in a violent way, but I was recording someone's podcast the other day, in his flat, just me and him, and I thought, 'If you're a predator, this isn't a safe space for women'. It's the wild west.' Love is a friend with benefits for Courtney At the age of 60, Courtney Love has settled for a 'friend with benefits'. The widow of Nirvana star Kurt Cobain says: 'I'm a libertine, and the person that I most do my romantic crap with is also a libertine, so we are really more friends with benefits.' Singer Courtney won't name her famous lover. 'I don't like talking about them because there's jealousy around that person.' She has lived in London for five years and admits to previously finding herself in a love triangle from which she was eventually rejected. The Fast Show star Paul Whitehouse says married friends are jealous that he and his wife have separate houses. The comic, 67, and academic Dr Mine Conkbayir, who's 22 years his junior, choose to live near each other in London. 'A lot of married people go, 'What? You live in separate houses?' The gleam in their eye. 'If only,'' he says. 'It works for us.' However, Whitehouse's man pad has been disrupted because Mine, with whom he has a daughter, is currently living with him. He explains: 'She's having some work done so she's living with me.' Hollywood's Loo rule Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood is approached in the strangest places. 'I was using the loo in Switzerland and a Brazilian bloke came in and recognised me straight away,' says the 59-year-old baker from Wallasey, Merseyside. 'He asked if I would speak to his wife. I said I would, but could I just finish what I was doing.' At least he didn't ask for a Hollywood handshake.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
European game generated 38 bln euros in 2023-24 season, study shows
June 11 (Reuters) - Europe's soccer market grew by 8% in terms of revenue in the 2023-24 season to 38 billion euros ($43.46 billion) with England's Premier League generating the most, Deloitte said in a study published on Wednesday. In its Annual Review of Football Finance, Deloitte said the top five leagues -- Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Serie A and Ligue 1 -- generated 20.4 billion euros in revenue, an increase of 4%. Premier League clubs had the highest revenue of Europe's top leagues at 6.3 billion pounds ($8.50 billion). However, the traditional 'big six' clubs in England's top flight reported lower average revenue growth (3%) than other clubs that were in the Premier League in both the 2023-24 and 2022-23 seasons (11%). The study said the growth was largely driven by expansion of clubs' commercial offerings, which also led to the teams cumulatively generating more than two billion pounds in commercial revenue for the first time. "A focus on stadia development and diversification of commercial revenues led to growth across the European football market in the 2023-24 season," Tim Bridge, lead partner in Deloitte's Sports Business Group, said. "However, clubs and leagues cannot afford to take their eye off the ball as new challenges, including an evolving regulatory landscape and changing fan behaviours, arise. "The pressure is mounting for more clubs to drive additional revenue at the same time as managing rising costs. "More so than ever, leaders and owners must recognise the great responsibility they have of managing these businesses, capturing the historic essence of a football club while honouring its unrivalled role as a community asset for generations to come." Clubs in Europe's 'big five' leagues reported an aggregate operating profit (0.6 billion euros) for a second successive season, while the aggregate wages/revenue ratio fell from 66% to 64%. Clubs in England's Women's Super League (WSL) jointly generated revenue of 65 million pounds in the 2023-24 season, a 34% rise. Each WSL club had a double-digit increase in revenue, while all 12 clubs reported over one million pounds in revenue for the first time, with an average revenue of 5.4 million pounds. "Through developing more robust fan engagement strategies, strong commercial deals and securing central distributions, WSL clubs unlocked a new phase of growth," Deloitte Sports Business group's knowledge and insights lead Jennifer Haskel said. "Plus, as the reporting and attribution of commercial revenue remains inconsistent between clubs, we may be scratching the surface on the value now being generated by the women's game." ($1 = 0.7409 pounds) ($1 = 0.8743 euros)
