Residents' anger over plans to turn long-established Sheffield kitchen showroom into pub

Councillors will next week decide whether JA Horne Starlight fitted kitchens and bathrooms, which was established on Abbeydale Road in 1971, can be converted into a bar.

There’s been 35 objections including Abbeydale Tenants and Residents Association.

Neighbours say the pub will add to existing traffic and parking problems and customers will park outside their homes on side streets which are already at capacity.

They are worried about people congregating, litter, graffiti and antisocial behaviour and say the area doesn’t need another pub.

But planning officers are advising councillors to approve the plans, saying a bar would maintain the vitality and viability of the shopping area

In a report, they say: “At present the existing building has a large shop front to the ground floor covering both of the units, which then wraps around the side of the building along Hale Street, with signage above.

“The first floor is boarded up and has no openings, with a large advertisement hoarding on the side and painted.

“It is proposed to install replacement windows and doors to the ground floor and to reinstate the first floor windows into their original openings.

“The proposed alterations will improve its overall appearance and modernise and tidy up the ground floor.”

Councillors will decide at a meeting on Tuesday, July 27.