Cocktail bar plan rejected because of noise fears

PLANS to create a cocktail bar underneath a Jewellery Quarter coffee shop have been refused because it would create too much late night noise and make life a misery for residents.

Businessman Andy Heath is behind the Upstairs, Downstairs business in Water Street, with a basement bar under the existing coffee shop which has so far been used for private events only.

Unusually, the basement also have included a small shop element. would barber

But Birmingham City Council’s planning committee members were not convinced this was the right place for a bar.

At its latest meeting, the committee heard residents had objected to the plan, saying that occasional events, held under temporary licences, had been noisy affairs with people queuing in the streets.

But potential customers had also signed letters supporting the business, saying it was ideally suited to the Jewellery Quarter.

Speaking on behalf of Upstairs Downstairs, planning consultant Louise Brooke-Smith pointed out it would be a small bar and noise would be controlled.

She told the committee: “The perception of noise and disturbance should not form the basis for refusal, particularly when the perception does not materialise.”

And she suggested a temporary planning permission for one year to allow the authorities and residents to monitor the noise levels. She added that Water Street was not a “quiet road” but part of the lively Jewellery Quarter environment.

But council planning officer Louise Robinson said: “It is a backwater, it doesn’t have the same levels of background noise.”

She added there were residents living in flats above the proposed bar, with open rooftop terraces.

Committee member Cllr Gareth Moore (Con, Erdington) said: “I don’t think a cocktail bar is appropriate.”