A Brighton café wants to be able to serve alcohol in the evenings but a neighbour has lodged an objection.
Bread and Milk, in Trafalgar Street, has applied to Brighton and Hove City Council for a licence to serve alcohol each day from 11am to 9pm.
The café, which is run by Jenny Davidson, 47, and Rupert Davidson, 48, has been trading for 10 years and currently closes at 5pm.
Their licence application said that they would like to offer craft beers and fine wines in small measures, with food, to develop their business.
But a neighbour objected to the application so the council has called a licensing panel hearing, scheduled for next week, to decide whether to grant the application.
The neighbour, whose details were redacted by the council, cited noise and nuisance and complained about early morning deliveries, the sound of tables being set out and loud conversations.
The noise in the area was “that of a dining room you cannot turn off”, the anonymous neighbour said, adding: “The only respite is when they leave at 6pm. If they plan to open until 9pm, I don’t know what I will do.
“The consumption of alcohol outside at tables in the evening until 9pm will make for greater unbearable noise and nuisance.”
Bread and Milk said that it was part of the community and would work with the North Laine Community Association.
The venue’s application said: “We are extremely mindful of our regulars and neighbours and have no intention to develop the business in a way which would negatively impact anyone.
“We would be happy to follow strict licensing conditions where they are thought by the council to be necessary to protect the local area.”
Trafalgar Street is in a busy area of Brighton and Hove where the council operates tougher licensing rules to try to reduce the risk of drink-related crime and disorder.
But the council’s policies usually permit cafés to be licensed to serve alcohol until 10pm.
Bread and Milk has already agreed several draft conditions with Sussex Police in the event that a licence is granted.
These include restricting the sale of alcohol to customers who are seated at tables and served by waiting staff, with food and hot and cold non-alcoholic drinks also available at all times.
The licensing panel is due to meet at 10am next Wednesday (7 June) at Hove Town Hall.
Give these people a chance,there are plenty of other premises around,9.00 pm isn’t unreasonable.
But it’s called bread and milk
It’s a shame the neighbour won’t come down and join them – I’m sure they’d give give him a couple of freebies.
Can’t See a problem, not a pub or night club.
So lets, for example use the Bulldog pub…..I don’t believe that they sell Bulldogs! But who knows I’ve not been there for ages.
Who are these people who moved to the centre of a town then complain about noise…?
Absolutely agree with you. It’s totally insane. I’m in Kemptown and I hear the same whinging. If people want peace and quiet go to the bloody Lake District.
It sounds like a small local business trying to improve itself and the area. I hope they get the licence…..and the whining resident moves…far away!
Maybe they moved there, when the centre of town was a lot less noisy, long before all the cafes took over the area.
Must have been at least 5 decades ago. I’ve lived here all my life and I’m the wrong side of 70 and the town centre has always been busy, just seems to be more cafés and less pubs. Tend to think that the neighbour doth protest too much.
So lets, for example use the Bulldog pub…..I don’t believe that they sell Bulldogs! But who knows I’ve not been there for ages.
Ridiculous. This cafe is community minded, supporting local events and giving back to local residents. There is no reason to believe they would operate in anything other than a socially responsible manner.
Lives 1 minute from Brighton train station and wants peace and quiet?? I know this cafe, it does not attract loud people or groups. Sounds like they want to offer small beers with your lunch, not exactly a brewery opening up. Good luck to them at the hearing.
Argh.
It is a small business that isn’t making enough or isn’t making enough money for the management. The business wants to be commercially and financially viable in order to make the sums work for whatever reason… the management?
Pubs have fallen out of fashion with the younger liberal elites which Brighton and Hove is plagued with.
Cafes selling alcohol is European culture. It is not British.
Alcohol is sold between certain times and for certain ages and on certain premises.
My message to Bread and Milk is; If your food and service were better and your prices more affordable for Brightonians rather than fleecing us, you wouldn’t need the booze licence.
“Cafes selling alcohol is European culture. It is not British”. Really? I’ve been ‘British’ ever since I was born amost 76 years ago and have always been ‘European’. From your logic we should revert to ‘British culture’ where cafes would be closed and replaced by pubs servig beer with no food and drunken punters fighting in the street and throwing up all over the pavement. I’m not sure this miserable resident would find that an improvement…
And we should revert to 1950’s opening hours for pubs and shops….
“Cafes selling alcohol is European culture. It is not British.” At last! A voice of common sense! Trafalgar Street is already plagued with businesses selling food that simply isn’t British: sushi, Korean chicken, even pasta! They should all be replaced at once with restaurants that serve only hearty British fayre: pie and mash, jellied eels and shoulder of mutton. Furthermore, I believe there’s a shop further down the same street that sells “hip hop” records – to my knowledge, these aren’t British either. They should be faced with a firm and immediate choice: sell only records of honest British music – George Formby, the National Anthem, Vera Lynn etc – or face immediate closure! That’ll show the younger liberal elites who plague Brighton who’s boss!! Really, you allow a cafe to serve alcohol – as if we’re in Paris, for God’s sake – and who knows where it will end: the next thing you know we’ll all be forced to play the accordion while wearing berets, a a string of onions round our necks. I expect the younger liberal elites would like that. Well the younger liberal elites can think again!!!
“Pubs have fallen out of fashion with the younger liberal elites which Brighton and Hove is plagued with.
Cafes selling alcohol is European culture. It is not British.”
This might just be the silliest thing I’ve ever seen written on these comment pages