Bid to turn former Derbyshire bookshop into a bar

The plans would see the former bookshop at 80 King Street in Belper turned into Chapters Bar, paying homage to the venue’s previous use.

In the premises licence application, submitted to Amber Valley Borough Council, it details that the venue would like to sell alcohol from 9.30am until 6pm Monday to Thursday; 9.30am until 11pm Fridays and Saturdays; and 10am until 4pm on Sundays.

A decision will be made by the borough council in the next few months.

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Plans to turn the bookshop into a bar, submitted by Whitemoor Properties Limited, were approved by the borough council in October last year.

Those approved plans do include the condition that apart from the approved sound system, the venue cannot have any electrically amplified sound “including music and voices, or percussion”.

This, council officers wrote, is to “protect the amenity of the residents of adjacent properties”.

The approved plans say the venue would also serve food.

Documents attached to those plans also detail: “The existing shop frontage will be replaced due to dilapidated condition with new double glazed timber frame and entrance door with decorative detailing to window frame, colour mid-grey.

“Change of use and internal alterations will allow the new function of drinking establishment with expanded food provision to operate within the existing building boundary.

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“The intention of the proposals is to retain the main aspect of the existing building while re-purposing its use for a new function which will serve the wider community.”

Glass panels at the front of the building would be removed, along with the existing recessed entrance.

Inside the property, new toilets would be installed on the ground floor, with bar seating on the ground and first floors. The first floor would also be renovated to contain two function rooms.

The kitchen would be located downstairs in the cellar of the proposed venue.

Plans for the new bar form part of the wider redevelopment of King Street, with a string of new uses approved in the past year.