A former carpet shop is to be turned into a coffee shop.
County Carpets closed its shop in Cliffe High Road, Lewes, in 2023 when the owner retired.
The unit is now being taken over by Blend Coffee, which already has branches in Portslade and Worthing.
The company has applied to the South Downs National Park for permission to make changes to the shopfront, including painting it in the Farrow and Ball shade Hague Blue.
Another application to make internal changes to the listed building, including dropping the ceiling and building a stud wall, was approved last month.
In that application, coffee shop owner Oliver Crawley said: “The current premises was operating as a carpet shop, and has now been left as an empty shell.
“Changing the use into a speciality coffee shop, we have contracted an interior designer to ensure we fit in with other local Lewes based businesses and retain any relevant heritage of the building.
“The design does not change the structure of the building – the majority of works being undertaken are cosmetic, including using new paint on both the front of the shop and inside the premises.
“We have designed the rear of the shop (currently a toilet area), to become more accessible for users, by adding a new stud wall.
Those plans were supported by Lewes Town Council. However, one neighbour, Katrina Over, said there was no need for another coffee shop and that they cause annoyance to people living there.
She also said: “It will attract more drivers that want to ‘just pop in’ to get a cup of coffee and park in the on street parking bays which are already at filled to capacity during the day, or in the loading bay or on the double yellow lines exacerbating the congestion and pedestrian related safety issues already experienced by residents having to do battle with cars illegally parked in this area particularly in the morning and afternoon/evening when the nursery starts and finishes.”
Wrong end of Cliffe High Street. Not many people wander that far down. Won’t last very long. Sorry!
There’s nothing wrong with that end of Cliffe High Street – very busy with Seasons, Trading Post, Leightons and various very good charity and antique shops!! I ony hope the owner will try to do something about the noise of chatter and music which are prevalent in most coffee shops. Hard floors are often the culprit and too loud music. Cornish Bakery and Trading Post are particular examples when they’re busy so it’s a relief to go to Waterstones for a restful cup of coffee and chat.