Neighbours and park users have objected to a Hove café owner’s application for a drinks licence.
As a result of the objections, a panel of three councillors will be asked to decide whether the Italian Good Café can operate as a café bar in Stoneham Park.
If approved, alcohol will be on sale from 11am to 8pm daily at the café which used to known as the Snug – and before that the Hive.
Massimiliano Cristarelli, 55, director of the Snug Hove CIC, wants to serve drinks to customers seated at tables inside and outside the café as well as to offer collections and home deliveries.
He applied for a licence to Brighton and Hove City Council which has scheduled a licensing panel to decide the matter at a hearing next week.
Mr Cristarelli, who also owns the Good Convenience Store, in Albion Hill, Brighton, has agreed draft licence conditions with Sussex Police such as marking the outdoor seating with a rope barrier or similar.
The café would have to substantial food, including hot food, at all times, with menus clearly displayed, and bottled drinks outside would have to be decanted into glasses made from toughened glass.
Mr Cristarelli said that staff would ensure that customers did not remove drinks from the café area and cited a “public space protection order” banning drinking in the wider park.
His application has attracted three letters of objection. One anonymous objector, whose details were redacted by the council, said: “The park is for children to play in.
“It is a small, urban park with plenty of nearby pubs and off-licences for those who want to buy alcohol.
“There is no need for the consumption of alcohol within the park itself where children are playing.”
Another anonymous objector, whose details were also redacted, said: “The daytime hours of this cafe would mean daytime drinking – albeit with food.
“It allows minors (the predominant users of the park) exposure to adults consuming alcohol while the children are at play – and should be safe. Adults in charge of minors should not be intoxicated.”
An anonymous park user said: “I go to the café every week and the main clientele are parents and small children. I do not see that there is a need therefore to serve alcohol.
“Of course, there is a difference between parents having a glass of wine with a family meal and two adults drinking all afternoon.
“But my concern is that it will not be possible for the staff at the café to police this adequately.”
The licensing panel hearing is due to start at 10am on Wednesday 5 June and is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
