Work to redevelop Burnham-On-Sea’s former job centre into a new restaurant and eight flats has taken a further step forward.
Seventeen years after it closed down as a job centre, the building is being converted by its new owner, as Burnham-On-Sea.com reported in March.
The building, located at the junction of Burnham’s High Street and Regent Street, is being turned into an Indian buffet restaurant, to be called the Cinnamon Club, while the second floor will see four 1-bedroom flats plus four 2-bedroom flats.
This week, a new planning application has been lodged with Somerset Council for the installation of a commercial cooking flue on the roof of the building to serve the ground floor restaurant and comply with “the special qualities of the Conservation Area and the appearance of the Conservation Area.”
Earlier in the year, an application was lodged for “a non-material amendment to the Planning Permission (Conversion of ground floor to retail use and conversion of first and second floors to eight dwellings) to allow for revised internal configuration and alterations to fenestration to provide a Class E unit (restaurant) on the ground floor with 8no. apartments above.”
The applicant said: “Planning permission was granted for the conversion of the ground floor, formerly an Employment Centre to provide a retail unit (Class E) and the provision of eight residential apartments above.”
“Our client now proposes to run a restaurant from the premises necessitating some internal reconfiguration on the ground floor, and minor changes to the flats. The proposal also includes minor alterations to fenestration.”
“The subject site is located within the town centre of Burnham-On-Sea where the principle of mixed use development (e.g, restaurant ground floor and residential above) is supported by the policies of the Sedgemoor Local Plan and guidance contained in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
It comes after Somerset Council approved the proposals to redevelop the building last year. A previous planning application to develop the job centre was approved in 2020 but had lapsed without work being undertaken, hence revised plans were submitted.
The property has been vacant since the former job centre closed in March 2008. The building was set to be redeveloped into a community facility with £1million of funding from the Government’s Coastal Community Fund, but the grant bid was rejected in 2018.
There were also previous proposals for the ground floor of the building to be turned into a convenience store.
The latest application – reference number 11/25/00054 – is now under consideration by the council with the earliest decision date being November 15th, 2025.
