Objections to Bowes Park café bid to sell alcohol late at night

Neighbours, police officers and council raise concerns but owner insists he runs business “responsibly”, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

A cafe in Bowes Park has submitted an application for a premises licence to serve alcohol – but is facing objections amid noise and public nuisance concerns.

2A Coffee Bar and Pool had initially sought closing times of midnight from Sunday to Thursday and 2am on Friday and Saturday.

However, objections from the Metropolitan Police and Haringey Council’s noise and environmental health teams raised concerns about public nuisance.

In a statement submitted to the council’s licensing sub-committee, which discussed the licence on Monday (1st), a Met Police officer said: “My representation is based on concerns regarding public nuisance. The premises is located at the end of a row of shops with residential properties situated above, next door and opposite. Allowing the premises to remain open until 2am over the weekend is likely to cause a significant increase in public nuisance.”

Noel Samaroo, the applicant’s representative, said reduced hours had been agreed, along with additional conditions meaning both the Met and the council’s noise and environment teams had withdrawn their representations.

A raid was carried out for drug-related reasons in February, when it was established the previous premises licence was no longer valid as the company it was issued under had dissolved. The premises was closed down thereafter.

Noel said the premises had since reopened under a new company “responsibly as a cafe” with “no evidence of crime and disorder from the current operation”.

He said: “We’re not blind to the fact it is a difficult area and there has in the past been some antisocial behavior so it was very important for us to engage with the police and the environmental health and noise team to draw up conditions that they were satisfied would mitigate any difficulties could arise to a professional standard.”

These “tangible and enforceable mechanisms” include “upgraded” CCTV, now inside and outside the premises, staff training, a dispersal policy, and an incident log.

Noel said: “Granting a licence with the agreed conditions will in fact enhance regulatory oversight by bringing alcohol service into a fully controlled, monitored and reviewable environment.”

The new hours proposed are Sunday to Thursday from 10am to midnight and Friday and Saturday from 10am to 12.30am with the outside area closed to patrons from 10pm daily with the exception of up to five customers for smoking only.

One resident wrote a representation raising concerns about noise, crowding on the pavement, and the behaviour of clients.

In response, Noel said the premises had been managed “very well” and “without incident” for a while. He said the resident’s concerns weren’t “supported by evidence before the committee” but rather “speculative about what might happen”.

In response to the noise and dispersal concerns he said the dispersal policy meant there would be staff outside the venue when customers were leaving.

Noel added the “controlled smoking limit” and closure of the external area from 10pm alongside background music meant the premises was more “accountable”.

Following discussions the committee closed the meeting to deliberate on the application which will be decided in five working days.

Local news needs your support

We are proud that we were at the forefront of reporting on the recent local elections. We can’t do this without the support of our readers.

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.