THE owner of Marples Cafe and the Riverside Bar and Restaurant in Cleethorpes is planning to open another eating establishment in the resort.
David Allen, of DRJ Developments Ltd, has applied for planning permission to convert a block of flats on Alexandra Road into a restaurant.
The building, known as Knoll House, is located next door to the RAFA Club at the junction with Knoll Street.
Two planning applications relating to the proposal have been submitted to North East Lincolnshire Council.
One is to demolish the existing outbuilding and alter the ground floor to include front and rear, single-storey extensions to form a restaurant, carry out internal alterations to a first floor flat to create a bedsit and render to part of the existing building.
The other is to demolish a 2m and 3m high boundary wall in a conservation area.
Both applications were received on November 9 and validated last Monday. However, the detailed plans are not yet available for the public to view, either on the council website or at the civic offices in Cleethorpes. Mr Allen was yesterday unavailable for comment.
The application, which is due to be determined by January 28, is the latest in a series of exciting developments for the resort's restaurant scene.
Last month, Marples on Sea View Street began serving up evening meals in addition to its daytime dishes.
As reported, the cafe had previously served evening meals until 2005, when owner Mr Allen opened the Riverside, four doors away from where his new restaurant will be.
Speaking to the Grimsby Telegraph last month, Mr Allen said he had not initially wanted the two establishments to be in competition with each other, but said that with the Riverside now so well established, some competition would now be healthy.
He added: "Sea View Street has also changed significantly over the last two or three years and there are now a lot of high-end, good quality shops, cafes and restaurants open into the evening."
In October, local businesswoman Florence Spall, the owner of Twiggies cafe on Cambridge Street, revealed plans to open a themed diner, two function rooms and a craft room in the building next door.
She said her vision was to create a high quality fine diner with a plush setting and "lovely ambience", adding: "I think it is going to be amazing for Cleethorpes."
That application is due to go before the planning committee next Wednesday.
The Captain's Table fish restaurant on Kingsway, owned by former trawler skipper John Hancock, has also recently undergone an extension.
