Street food venue granted licence despite concerns
A NEW street food café and open air market has been granted a licence despite noise concerns from neighbours.
The Corporation Yard, on the corner of Cowbridge Road East and Llandaff Road in Canton, has hosted 17 street food vendors and more than 100 market traders since it opened eight weeks ago.
Independent market stalls surround a large marquee in the centre of the yard, with around 15 tables. QR codes on each table let diners order food or drink brought to the table without having to get up.
But as the outdoor yard is surrounded by houses, people living nearby have complained about music and loud conversations late at night.
The Corporation Yard applied for a premises licence from Cardiff Council to move the bar outside and stay open later. The licensing committee granted the licence at a hearing on Thursday after listening to noise concerns from neighbours.
The hearing was held before plans for the new national lockdown – which begins at 6pm on Friday – were announced yesterday.
During the hearing, Chris Rowlands, the applicant, said: “It’s a street food café and open air market, designed to give multiple small businesses and operators a chance to get the businesses back to a paying basis during these troubling times.
“The venue has gone down so well with the local community that we have quickly spread and now we have a shortlist of over 200 market traders who want a stall there, and four other sites asking us to set up similar operations on their land in Cardiff and the Valleys.
“The venue itself was specifically designed to be a Covid-friendly site, which is why we opted for an outdoor venue.
“We don’t know when Covid is going to end. A lot of our fellow operators are reaching breaking point, not having venues or locations suitable for the restrictions. So we created one for them.”
The street food café has been running from Thursday to Saturday until 9pm, and the market traders have been there every Saturday and Sunday.
But neighbours told the licensing committee how the noise of the Corporation Yard has been a nuisance.
Councillor Ramesh Patel asked if a condition on the licence could stop the yard trading at 8pm Sunday to Thursday, and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
Cllr Patel said: “The reason for these hours is because it is a fully residential area and the back of the yard faces houses, where a number of families are living with their children.
“With Covid, more and more families are now working from home and it’s a huge struggle for them, especially if they have children who need to go to bed early and then get to school the next day.”
Iestyn Gruffudd, who lives nearby, told the licensing hearing about his concerns over noise and drivers parking on the pavement.
Mr Gruffudd said: “Any noise does carry quite heavily and emanates through the house. There’s music playing throughout the day, from early in the morning to late at night.”
The licensing committee voted to grant the new premises licence on the condition that the Corporation stops serving alcohol and food at 11pm.