Resident objects to wine bar plans due to noise and disruption during licensing meeting
A Ravenfield resident has slammed the applicant behind a proposed café and wine bar, calling him ‘naive’ as she voiced strong objections to the plans over noise and disruption.
Plans have been lodged to open a new venue on Braithwell Road in Ravenfield called The Longbar, which will run as a café during the day and wine bar/bistro in the evening, with seating for 38 customers.
Applicant David Marshall has applied to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) for a premises licence to sell alcohol, with proposed closing times of 11.30pm on Saturdays and 1.30am on New Year’s Eve.
During a meeting of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council’s licensing sub committee, Mr Marshall told councillors that the Longbar will be a “cosy café in the daytime, with the option for an upmarket wine bar in the evening”.
Mr Marshall, who has previously held licences for the Yellow Lion in Greasbrough and the Effingham Arms in the Town Centre added that the Longbar would not be a place where patrons would be ‘drinking pints and pints’.
He told the meeting that the bar would be a ‘couples venue,’ where customers would walk and “enjoy a bottle of wine together in an upmarket atmosphere.
“I’ve changed all the frontage to make it a level entry for some of the elderly residents, there’s going to be special prices for pensioners.
“I’m trying to create a nice community where people can come and communicate, enjoy a nice bit of food and some nice drinks then in the evening dim down the lights, make it a cosy, secluded wine bar.”
“There’ll be no sound leaving the building.
“I can’t envision any problems whatsoever.”
However, residents living near the proposed site, including some elderly people in a row of bungalows, have voiced concerns about potential noise disturbances.
Resident Ms Whitworth, who told the meeting she lives opposite the premises, and raised concerns over noise, branding the applicant ‘naive’.
Ms Whitworth told the meeting: “The gentleman states it’s going to be predominantly couples that he expects to use the bar, and that they’ll actually walk to the premises. I truly, truly can’t believe that he’s naive enough to think that’s what’s going to happen.
Ms Whitworth added that the 38-seat venue ‘lends itself ideally to small parties,’ adding: “We all know what it’s like when we get together…enjoying ourselves, we go outside, we’ll have a cigarette, we’ll have a chat, we’ll have a laugh.
“I’m not against laughing, I’m not against drinking, I’m not against enjoying myself.
“My concern is, my bedrooms on the main road. Am I going to get into bed, get settled down and fall asleep and get disturbed by people leaving the premises? I truly believe that is what’s going to happen.”
The committee retired to make their decision in private.