Cafe extra hours bid is councillors’ cup of tea
CHARLOTTE GREEN
APOPULAR cafe’s plea to have its licence extended into the night to help it stay afloat has found favour with Rossendale council.
Approving the bid by The Drop Off Cafe in Edenfield on a trial basis, council planners said independent businesses needed the backing of the council in order to create “vibrant” town centres.
The venue, based at the old Co-operative building off Market Street, had applied to stay open until 11pm all week (10.30pm on Sundays), an increase of more than 30 hours a week, and stated that without ‘extension to the times the business will fail’.
Up to now the cafe, which opened in 2015, has been open from 9am to 7pm on weekdays, 9am to 5pm on Saturdays, and 10am to 4pm on Sundays.
The application received three letters of objection and 58 letters of support, as well as a 100-strong petition backing the plans and the endorsement of the Edenfield Village Residents Association.
Planning officers had recommended refusal after an objection by the environmental health department, and principal planning officer Lauren Ashworth told the meeting that the application would “harm the residential amenities to nearby housing for reasons of noise and disturbance late into the evening, and fails to comply with local and national planning policy.”
But the council’s development control committee rejected the planning advice and agreed an extension, subject to a one-year trial period which could be reviewed ● The popular Drop Off cafe in Edenfield and (inset) owners Colin Davies and Choi Fu-Davies if there were complaints about noise and disturbance. Resident John Rostron raised fire safety concerns and told the meeting his children would be disturbed by noise if the later hours were approved.
He said: “This is not me moving next door to a pub and then complaining, this is the applicant moving into a residential estate and then complaining there is a residential estate next door.”
Eden ward councillor Janice Johnson spoke at the meeting and urged the committee to support the application, saying: “It’s a local place for neighbours to catch up with friends and strangers.”
Ward colleague Anne Cheetham asked planners to ‘give it a chance’.
She said: “This little cafe could give employment to about six people on a shift basis, which would be very welcome.”
Coun Andy MacNae, the council’s portfolio holder for tourism, said it called into question the role of the local authority.
He said: “We are trying to present Rossendale as a place for people to invest and live, where people want to enjoy a vibrant lively town centre and if we can’t approve a quality establishment like this I wonder what we can actually approve.”
Committee member Coun Jimmy Eaton said: “I find that a lot of small businesses throughout Rossendale are failing and one of the reasons is they have got to work long hours to make a profit.
“Drive down now in Rossendale, look at all the empty shops, empty buildings – it’s very sad what’s happening.”
Eden ward councillor Janice Johnson said: “Small, independent, quality businesses should be supported by our council.”