Milnsbridge cafe’s booze battle ends in defeat after ‘see into my lounge’ concerns

A cafe in Milnsbridge is not allowed to serve alcohol outdoors or late at night – to the delight and relief of residents who feared the move would bring “loud” and “drunken” behavior to their streets.

Kirklees Council’s licensing panel met to determine an application from Le Sorelle – a cafe on Pickford Street – on Tuesday 25 June. The shop was already licensed to sell alcohol from Monday to Friday between 10am and 6pm – as long as the drinks are consumed indoors.

Business owner Amy Lambert wanted changes to the license to allow alcohol to be sold between 10am and 10pm, seven days a week. In addition, she hoped to obtain permission for her customers to drink alcohol outdoors.

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The business currently opens from 10am to 2pm Tuesday to Saturday and Ms Lambert told the meeting that she had no plans to increase the opening hours. She said she wants the license to be amended to allow events and premises to be rented out for things like baby showers and birthday parties a few times a month, rather than relying on “Temporary Event Notices” from the council. for such events.

Her application was met with 14 objections from local residents and one from Environmental Health, some of whom attended the meeting to voice their concerns.

One resident, Debbie Crosby, said: “Obviously none of the residents are happy about this. Amy is already licensed to stay open from nine to six and for me, for a coffee shop, that should be enough time for baby showers or any other events during the day.

Lodrick Edwin said: “My family have lived on Pickford Street for over 40 years and I think the thing you have to understand about Pickford Street is that they are young families and on an evening, it’s incredibly quiet. During the day, it can be a bit of a rat.

“I think if the license is granted it will have a negative impact on residents and what I would say is there will be an increase in noise, anti-social behaviour, activity, traffic and litter.”

And Charles Carr told how the deal was already affecting his quality of life and how it would get worse if the changes were agreed. He said: “I open my front door and there are people sitting there three meters away eating breakfast. I can’t open my windows to the front now because I can hear people even now just having breakfast, coffee and conversation.

“I look out my window and see people sitting there, so I’m sure I can see into my living room too. I have no privacy at all.”

An environmental health officer also spoke at the meeting and said: “With all the best will in the world, even if people are talking at a reasonable level, when they’re out, whether they’re drinking alcohol or whatever, they invariably talk. each other and turn up the volume. And obviously we have an adjacent residential property and other residential properties in the area that could be affected by that.

“I don’t think we’ve been given enough opportunities to get enough evidence – even from the times the business has been allowed to operate – that it won’t cause a problem during the warmer summer period.”

Le Sorelle received its current license in October 2023.

Later in the meeting, Ms Lambert reiterated: “Nothing will change with our normal schedule, we will stay the same. If it gets busier, I might reevaluate my hours, but it wouldn’t be all day… I’ve had a few clients who just asked for nine to three, but more than that is not feasible for me.

“At this point, I’ve always wanted to be a part of the community and I’ve never wanted to upset people.”

Ultimately, in making its decision, the group took a similar position to Environmental Health and rejected the changes. Chair of the meeting, Cllr Amanda Pinnock (Labour, Ashbrow) explained: “It has only been a very short time since the last licensing hearing on 11 October 2023 when peers agreed to grant the license… and not long enough time.

“We do not believe there has been a significant change in circumstances since the last hearing. Although we have heard statements today, we have heard limited information and limited data for us to make an informed decision…”

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