Bid to re-open pub met with objections
A BID to reopen a pub has come under fire from neighbours and council officers.
Owners of the Walmsley Arms in Great Harwood have lodged a licensing application with Hyndburn Council to reduce the opening hours at the premises which closed 12 months ago.
However in return Stars Pubs & Bars Limited have proposed to remove the requirement for door staff to make it ‘more financially viable for a prospective tenant’.
Residents and business owners near the Queen Street pub have lodged objections with the council claiming it will cause a repeat of reported noise problems and anti-social behaviour.
The council’s environmental control officer has also submitted a formal objection on the grounds of ‘public nuisance’.
In an email to the authority, Faye Lynch, who runs the nearby Elite Dry Cleaners, said questioned how they could they make an application to remove the door staff.
She said: “Anything that acts as a deterrent to unruly punters and drunken behaviour, such as door staff, has got to be a good thing and the removal of them only done so once the pub has proved itself.
“Surely the better option would be to remove the long hours on the licence, keep the door staff on the licence until Stars Bars proves that they are responsible and not just leaving anyone to run the place.”
Under the licensing application the pub would close at 1.30am instead of 3am on Fridays and Saturdays and 2am on Thursdays and Sundays.
The sale of alcohol, recorded music and late night refreshment would also end at 1am.
However Allan Barnes, who has lived on Queen Street for more than 30 years, said he witnessed ‘numerous disturbances outside the pub’ before 1.30am.
In an objection letter, he said: “I don’t understand how door staff can be removed until the reduction in hours has been proven to reduce the number of disturbances.”
Hyndburn council licensing officer Paul Thwaites has suggested a 9pm curfew should be imposed on the beer garden and curbs placed on live music and DJs at the pub.
He said: “Previously there have been numerous issues relating to public nuisance and noise connected with the premises.
“The variation submitted does not seek to address any previous issues and I note that the application sets out that there will be no change to the times of permissible activities allowed in the beer garden.”
Stars Pubs & Bars Limited said the pub has been ‘empty and boarded up for some time’ and prospective new tenants have been ‘put off taking the site due to the significant cost of door staff’.
They said: “Consultation has taken place with the police, who have advised that they would be agreeable to the reduction in hours and the removal of the requirement of door staff, commenting that the proposal sounds like a fair compromise that will be beneficial to all parties, reducing the potential for some incidents that have been seen in the past and making it more financially viable for a prospective tenant.
“It is considered that removing the later hours will significantly change the way the site will operate and will have a positive impact on the licensing objectives.”
A decision will be made by councillors at a licensing sub-committee meeting on Monday, January 13.