Homely cafe in the soup

Jun 7 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

A COUPLE have turned part of their large seaside home into a cafe in the latest twist in a bizarre and complex planning wrangle dating back three years.

Paul Williamson, 47, and his wife Maureen, 44, have installed tables and chairs in the conservatory and living room of their house near Druridge Bay, Northumberland, and put up roadside signs advertising their Drift Inn coffee shop.

For four weekends they have been welcoming strangers to their home and selling tea, coffee, sandwiches, scones and ice cream to cyclists, walkers and motorists using the coast road between the villages of Cresswell and Widdrington.

Mr and Mrs Williamson say they have been forced into the move to avoid enforcement and possible court action against them by Castle Morpeth Council, which could lead to hefty fines for a breach of planning rules.

Town hall officials say that because of the planning history of the site, the couple should not be living in the house unless there is a cafe or restaurant being operated from the building. Mr Williamson said he was disgusted by the situation, which has left him and his wife worried about their future living arrangements and how the affair will end.

The story began in 2001 when the couple bought the derelict Drift Inn, just outside Cresswell. They used an existing planning permission to convert and extend it into a four-bedroom house for themselves and their three daughters as well as running a cafe in part of the building.

In 2005 they closed the loss-making business and incorporated the cafe area into their living accommodation, but failed to seek planning permission. Since then the council has twice rejected applications for retrospective permission to change the planning conditions and allow the building to be solely a home.

Mr and Mrs Williamson have twice been ordered to market their house as a cafe or other business venture to prove their assertion that it is not commercially viable. Now they have re-opened the cafe on Saturdays and Sundays after the council issued an enforcement order.

Yesterday the couple, who are currently earning a living running two mobile catering vans, said daily takings in the past month had ranged from £103 to just £3.60, proving their case the business would always be a loss-maker.

Mr Williamson said: “Castle Morpeth Council told us in February that enforcement action would be taken, so we have been left with no choice but to re-open the cafe in our conservatory and living room. We feel absolutely disgusted in this day and age that we are being forced to run something that loses money.

“I would challenge Cresswell Parish Council and the borough council to buy the place and see if they can make it pay. We have no guarantees about how this will all end and it has really got us on the floor. However, we are not simply going to walk away and let them get away with it.”

Mrs Williamson said: “We work on the catering vans from Monday to Friday and now have to run the coffee shop at the weekends too. Sometimes I feel like washing my hands of the whole thing, but we love the house and like living here.”