Brandon Bingo Hall
A decision on plans which could see an old bingo hall site turned into residential properties will not be made for another month.
More N-41 Bingo is a charity bingo.We are open 5 days/nights a week. Tuesday (matinee only), Wednesday (evening only), Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The matinee session starts at 12pm and the evening session starts at 7:30pm (warm-ups @6:30pm). A dilapidated bingo hall could be replaced with new homes under plans being put forward by the site's owners. The former Winner's Bingo Hall in Brandon closed down eight years ago and the site has.
Winners Bingo is proposing to demolish its former bingo hall in London Road, Brandon, to build up to eight new homes.
Forest Heath District Council was due to make a decision on the application today but an extended deadline of March 7 has been agreed after concerns were raised by the conservation officer.
Among people to have objected to the plans – submitted in November last year – are residents who would like see the site brought into community use.
There is also concern over the threat it poses for vehicle access to St Peter’s Church Institute, which claims to have had a’ registered right of way’ over the site’s car park for more than 40 years.
Dennis Coburn, of the Church Institute, believes it is ‘completely the wrong place for housing’.
In his objection, he states: “Building properties here would landlock the Church Institute which is used by approximately 300 people every week in community groups.”
Brandon Bingo Halls
In its accompanying planning design and access statement, agent Barker Storey Matthews said: “The existing hall is of no significant architectural merit and is now in a poor state of repair having deteriorated since it was last used in September 2008.
“In the interim the site has not been in active use, although the unauthorised use of the car park has been ongoing and increasing.”
The old cinema in Brandon is set to finally be demolished after planners granted approval for an eight-home development.
The London Road site operated as Breckland Bingo And Social Club until the mid-2000s and has stood empty since.
Councillor Victor Lukaniuk, who represents Brandon Central on West Suffolk Council, said: “Outline permission has been granted and is long overdue.
“It has been empty for 15 years, and this seems like a sensible application. I can remember going to the cinema there, but this leaves me with no regrets. There is no architectural merit.”
The cinema was built in the 1930s and the building had been used as a bingo hall from the mid-90s until the mid-2000s.
Now outline permission has been granted, the applicant must proceed within the next two years – or would need to reapply.
Phil Wittam, a West Suffolk and Brandon town councillor, said a previous application in 2016 fell through with access to the nearby church hall causing a headache.
It is understood there will now be a provision allowing the church to buy land to gain access.
Plant City Bingo Hall
“It has been a long-running saga,” Cllr Wittam added, “and in my own opinion this couldn’t come too soon.
Jackpot Bingo Brandon
“The building is an eyesore and encourages antisocial behaviour.”
Full plans are likely to go on show at the next stage of the application.
Not everybody is in favour of the development. A neighbour wrote in response to the application: “Vehicles will be parked on the road and will add to an already congested town. At school and work times, this will be even worse.”
View the proposals at planning.westsuffolk.gov.uk and search: DC/19/1008/OUT