Green light for former funeral director’s in Wisbech to become café

A former funeral director’s that has been empty for nearly a decade is set to be turned into a new café.

Fenland District Council has approved plans to convert the ground floor of 37 Norwich Road, in Wisbech, into a café, and to increase the height of the building to create two new flats.

The building was last used by The Co-operative Funeralcare, but is believed to have sat empty since that branch closed in around 2016.

Permission was granted in 2021 to convert the building into four flats, but these changes were never implemented.

The developer behind the latest plans said creating a café as well as two flats would be better for the area than simply turning the whole building into flats.

The plans said: “The site of the development is a commercial premises, although the property is vacant and has been for some time, last occupied as a funeral director’s.

“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.”

Support was shared for the proposals, including from a member of the public who said it was a “solid idea”.

They said: “The building’s been sitting empty for too long, so it’s great to see it getting used. A café would be a vibe since there’s nothing like it around here.”

Wisbech Town Council also said it supported the plans, as it would bring the empty building back into use.

However, the council said it had some concerns about the impact of the development on parking in the area.

The planning officer who assessed the plans recognised the development would add to the demand for on-street parking in the area.

However, they said the town did benefit from “good transport links and ability to reasonably access services and facilities on foot”, and therefore said the plans were acceptable.

The highways team at Cambridgeshire County Council also said they believed the plans would be acceptable.

The 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.