COUNCILLORS have rejected a third planning application to convert former vegetarian cafe The Barn into a bedsit.

Waverley Borough Council has, since 2016, resisted several bids to change the use of The Barn’s ground floor from a mixed-use shop/cafe to form a 34 square metre apartment, citing the cramped, dimly lit standard of accommodation proposed.

The applicants, Flag Associates Ltd ,returned with a new application in August, marginally increasing the floor area and amending the layout, as well as increasing the window area.

However, the fresh proposal still fell short of the national space standard of 37 square metres, and was also dismissed by Waverley’s western planning committee on October 25 on the familiar grounds that it “would fail to provide an acceptable standard of accommodation”.

Flag Associates Ltd already has full planning permission to convert the first floor of The Barn into a bedsit, and has an appeal pending against Waverley’s previous refusal of planning consent (WA/2017/1155) for the ground floor.