Extension likely for 'noisy' bar despite residents' objections

Last February, city councillors went against the recommendations of council officers and granted permission for Revolution, on Fitzwilliam Street, to have a temporary licence to open until 12.30am.

At the time, council enforcement officers were investigating claims

that the bar had been breaching regulations by opening until as late as 2am, and ward councillor Jillian Creasy said that residents

were "suffering gravely" from the effects of noise.

Despite this, however, the planning committee granted consent for Revolution to extend its opening hours for 12 months. This permission has now expired and the bar has applied to extend the opening hours permanently.

This time, however, Sheffield Council's planning officers have sided with the bar, rather than residents, and said the application should be approved.

The report set to go before next Monday's planning committee meeting says: "On balance, the proposed permanent extension of hours has been considered acceptable, despite some concerns about the impact on the amenity of surrounding residential occupiers."

When Revolution, which has the West One apartment block above it, opened almost a decade ago there was a condition on its planning consent, preventing it from opening beyond 11.30pm each night.

However, this was altered when the councillors went against officer recommendation last year and allowed Revolution to extend its hours until 12.30am.

The planning report says: "At that time, members did not accept the concerns raised by officers in respect of street noise and felt that it could not be attributable to a single venue.

"Although acknowledging that this was a major residential location, members considered that a balance had to be struck between residential amenity and night-time economy and it was deemed fair to allow the extension of hours for a trial period for one year."

Four letters of objection have been received in relation to the latest application, claiming that Revolution already causes disturbance to residents of West One.

One letter says: "Vodka Revolution is a very busy, noisy pub and extending the hours permanently will result in excessive noise and unacceptable noise disturbance."

Another objector said: "Revolution knew that units one and two were part of a residential complex when they originally applied for planning permission, and accepted those conditions at the time, so why should they now be extended?"

A further letter of opposition points out that Revolution – which is used as a stop-off point on the notorious Carnage UK pub crawls – attracts noisy customers.

The letter says: "The clientele that Vodka Revolution attracts are not people going for a quiet drink – they are binge drinkers who consume as much alcohol as possible before the establishment closes.

"Extending the hours will allow these people to consume more alcohol and lead to higher levels of anti-social behaviour."

However, recommending that the planning application is approved, officers say that noise in the area is caused by various bars, as well as people waiting for taxis on Fitzwilliam Street.

The report says: "Whilst the clear concerns of residents within West One are acknowledged, it would appear that there have been no noise problems that are specific to the Revolution bar within the temporary period.

"There are clearly some issues with street noise within the locality of the site, but these cannot be attributed solely to Revolution."