Highgate takeaway's late-night opening plans cause a stink

Highgate Society objects to Bombay Rickshaw bid to open until 5am after claiming residents would be “disturbed by odours”, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

A Highgate takeaway’s plans to open as late as 5am on weekends has sparked fears residents will be disturbed by noisy delivery bikes and antisocial behaviour.

Kamal Hussin, who runs Indian restaurant Bombay Rickshaw in Archway Road, wants to serve gourmet burgers, pizzas and salads from a nearby outlet – formerly Fabio’s Kitchen – to cater for early risers and people who have come home from a night out.

He has applied for a licence to provide takeaway deliveries until 3am on weekdays and 5am on weekends, with the front counter of the restaurant closing two-and-a-half hours earlier.

If his bid is successful, the takeaway will be allowed to operate until significantly later than other businesses in the area. The Village Square Karaoke Bar and Cocktail Lounge currently has the latest opening hours, shutting its doors at 3am on Saturdays and Sundays.

During a meeting of Haringey’s licensing subcommittee on Monday, Kamal told councillors he respected residents’ views and was seeking to address their concerns.

He said a security guard would be stationed outside the premises to ensure people did not “hang around” the restaurant, delivery drivers would only be allowed to wait two minutes to collect food, and the street outside would be kept “clean and tidy”.

Kamal added that he would make sure deliveries were only made to people’s home addresses, not to people standing on the street. Under questioning from the committee, he said orders made from mobile apps that did not contain a full address would be refused.

Highgate Society objected to the plans, claiming residents would be disturbed by noise from mopeds and kitchen equipment, as well as odours from cooking.

William Britain, the society’s chair, said the takeaway was “in the heart of a very residential stretch” and there were no other nearby premises with late hours, apart from the Village Square. He told the meeting the proposed hours would lead to “noisy delivery mopeds” disturbing residents and add to existing antisocial behaviour problems.

William added: “We believe that there will be no benefit and considerable harm to the community in the very late hours proposed. We invite the panel to draw the conclusion that a late-night licence will result in unacceptable additional noise and disruption and should be rejected.”

Under questioning from councillors, William said he believed the policy of only delivering to home addresses was “unenforceable”, as people could get around it by entering a nearby address and collecting food from the street outside it even if they did not live there.

But the applicant’s agent, Jeff Savage, pointed out that council officers could order a takeaway from a street corner to see if the business breached the home-delivery policy.

Kamal also said the extractor fan would be fitted with a “sophisticated silencer” to ensure it did not disturb residents, and that his business plan would focus on delivering to homes three miles from the takeaway.

The Highgate Society chair was not convinced by the arguments and said residents would suffer if the late opening hours were approved.

The committee will issue its decision on the licence within five working days of the meeting.

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