Former bank to become cafe and bakery

Plans have been approved to turn a former bank in the Yorkshire Dales into a bakery and cafe.

Love Brownies, which has outlets in Skipton and Harrogate, submitted an application to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to convert the former Barclays Bank building on Hebden Road in Grassington.

It said the ground floor would be brought back into commercial use as a cafe, while the upper floors would be converted into flats.

Members of the authority voted unanimously to approve the plans.

Documents detail that cafe customers would be able to watch work taking place in the bakery, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Planning committee member Allen Kirkbride was among those supporting the application.

He said: "I think the architect has really done quite a good job on the infrastructure and how it's going to look.

"Grassington is a very, very busy village. I'm sure there will be full use of this, and in addition, there are two flats in with the scheme as well."

Concerns about the scheme were also heard, including from Grassington Parish Council which questioned how close the cafe's outdoor tables would be to the road.

Committee member Yvonne Peacock said while she understood the concern, passing traffic was often "crawling because you couldn't do anything else but crawl".

"It is a bit different if this was on a busy road, then it probably may be a bit too close," she said.

The meeting also heard worries over a lack of parking for customers and residents of the flats, but were told public parking in the town could be used instead.

The building previously operated as the Jobber's Inn and later the Commercial Hotel before becoming a bank, which closed in 2019.

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