PUB GIVEN GO-AHEAD TO SERVE DRINKS IN PLANNED BEER GARDEN
But not all of the neighbours are happy
A VILLAGE pub has been given the green light to serve drinks in a new beer garden – despite neighbours’ concerns about noise and the impact on property prices.
Joule’s Brewery took on the Offley Arms, in Madeley, following a campaign by residents to save their community hub from permanent closure. The Poolside pub shut following a fire in April 2018.
As part of its plans to reopen the pub Joule’s is planning to add a second beer garden to the site.
But the location of the new outdoor drinking area at the entrance to Waterside Close has sparked objections from those living close to the pub – and a number of residents voiced their concerns to Newcastle Borough Council’s licensing subcommittee.
The authority received 17 objections to the application to include the new garden as part of the pub’s licence. Reasons included noise nuisance, smoke and light pollution, litter and anti-social behaviour. But following the hearing around 100 people took to social media to voice their support for the pub and the new beer garden.
Residents who spoke at last week’s licensing hearing supported the reopening of the pub too.
But they questioned the licensing application for the beer garden being dealt with before planning permission has been secured for the new facility.
The loss of a mature sycamore tree has also sparked anger – and its felling was described as ‘gross vandalism’ by resident Kay Coventry. She said: “You are being asked to decide something that will affect the wellbeing of some 50 residents whose only desire is to live in a quiet, amenable residential area. They are happy to have the pub – they are not happy to have this socalled beer garden.”
Celia Jones said she had been trying to sell her house for a year. “People have said they don’t realise how close my house is to the beer garden and it’s devaluing my house”, she added.
Joule’s director Steve Nuttall apologised for the level of communication on the proposals. “I am sorry to all residents”, he said. “We spoke to the spokesman for the Close and I understand that didn’t happen as well as we would have hoped. It’s difficult for us to negotiate with 50 different people.”
Mr Nuttall added that in a survey of 350 people 86 per cent of respondents said they considered external space at the pub to be important. “That’s the reason we looked at developing that piece of land to provide that facility”, he said. “This is about community requirement for how the pub is run, improving a facility in order to make a pub viable. I understand the concerns but the kind of pub that has been described today isn’t the kind of pub we run. Those issues would constitute breaches of the licensing objectives.”
The meeting was told there were no plans for live or recorded music to be played in the outside area and service would cease in the beer garden from 10pm – although any customers still there after this time would be able to remain to finish their drinks. The licensing sub-committee granted permission for the beer garden to be covered by the pub’s licence. A decision has not yet been made on the planning application.
Speaking after the meeting, former Waterside Close resident Russell Ridgway said: “I knew there was a pub there when I moved in. Nobody knows when the pub opened but it’s in excess of 100 years ago and very shortly there will be a fantastic community asset for all to use again.
“I cannot thank Steve and his colleagues at Joule’s enough for transforming a near derelict overgrown building into this fantastic pub.”
Madeley resident David Hughes said: “Living in these very challenging times, it’s imperative that the village has a social hub, namely a village pub, and Steve Nuttall and his team have provided us with a spectacular example of how it should be done. Because of the social constraints of Covid-19 it is essential to utilise outdoor space to the full and this has also been achieved with a superb beer garden.”