Mr Lawrence wine shop plans conversion to slake our thirst

Eli: Oskar... Do you like me? 
Oskar: Yeah, a lot. 
Eli: If I wasn't a girl... would you like me anyway? 
Oskar: I suppose so.
- Let the Right One In

Mr Lawrence, the Crofton Park bar, is applying to convert its old off licence space, which closed a few days ago, in to bar space. The plans propose a straightforward conversion, turning the old counter in to a new bar.

We hope the Council will be sympathetic to these plans - a new bar makes sense and the existing bar is  popular and responsibly-run. It will also help to strengthen Brockley's night time economy and respond to the changing dynamics of the high-street, which needs more space for leisure and less for retail.

As we said in our predictions for 2013 (in which we forecast that 2013 would bring a new place to drink booze in Brockley), Brockley people have a thirst that is not yet quenched.

The applicants say:

The intention of this application is to seek approval for a material change of use from A1 (offlicense) to A4 (drinking establishment). Internally some alterations are proposed to facilitate the provision of customer toilets and service areas.

We believe the proposed change of use will ensure the long-term commercial viability of the property and will do so without any loss of amenity to neighbouring properties. The application sites lies within an established commercial street well suited to this type of use.

With thanks to Richard for the details.