A NEW fish and chip restaurant will bring a long empty building back to life and bring a new offer to Bingley - a panel of Councillors have been told.

Yesterday members of a Licensing Panel granted permission for the sale of alcohol at the Station Master’s House, a new restaurant planned for the long derelict building next to Bingley Railway Station.

At the meeting Matt Hogg, who runs the popular Brown Cow pub in the town centre with his partner Jo, said the restaurant would bring something new to the town.

They had noticed a gap in the market for a sit down fish and chip shop in Bingley, and told members there was, to their knowledge, no other such restaurant that had a bar service in the region.

The business will be a sit in fish and chip restaurant where diners can also enjoy drinks, with wine and craft beers being matched to different items on the menu.

Restaurant plans for derelict Station Master's house, Bingley, given green light after appeal

It will open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, but have an earlier closing time during the week.

Plans to convert the long empty Station Master’s House were first granted planning permission in 2018, and there had been calls for something to be done with the building for long before then.

But the Licensing Committee would have to grant a licence to sell alcohol before the business could open.

The application being discussed yesterday was for the sale of alcohol for consumption on and off the premises and the playing of recorded music.

At the meeting, which was held online, Mr Hogg said there had been several rumours in Bingley about what type of business would be opening in the building.

He said: “There has been a lot flying around about it being a pub, a bar or a restaurant, so I’m setting out what we’re going to do.

“We’d seen there was a gap in the market for a fish and chip, sit down restaurant, but with the sale of alcohol as well. It makes the restaurant quite unique.

“It will be a premium experience and the aim is to appeal to a refined, older market. We’ll be matching beer and drinks to items on the menu.

“There will be a focus on couple’s dining in a relaxed atmosphere, it won’t be for late night frivolity.”

He said there would be door staff on during weekends to act in a “meet and greet” capacity that will “allow for a bit more selectivity and to keep the riff-raff out.”

He said the plan would have a strong lunchtime and dinner offer, with discounts to local companies like Damart.

Mr Hogg added: “This is a project we have been looking at for the past three years and it has been our vision for about 10 years.

“It is not the perfect time, but it is the perfect spot.”

Before the Hoggs took on the building, the Victorian Station Master’s house had been derelict since the 1990s, and was seen as one of the buildings in Bingley that most needed saving.

At the meeting Steve Williams, speaking on behalf of the Hoggs, referred to concerns that the businesses could cause noise nuisance. He pointed out that the building was near a rail line, a bypass and several late night bars, adding: “It will be a family run restaurant, any noise won’t be coming from us.”

After a deliberation, members voted to grant the licence.