Residents’ lives blighted by noisy restaurant ‘for almost 20 years’

Neighbours fear their lives will continue to be blighted by noise and drunken behaviour if a Bounds Green restaurant gains an alcohol licence.

The residents said they had experienced nearly 20 years of problems caused by the premises at 2 Queens Parade, Brownlow Road, and Haringey Council revoked a previous owner’s licence less than a year ago.

But the new owners of the restaurant, now known as Rancho Brazil, stressed they were not linked to the previous licence holders and would take a different approach, arguing the neighbours would be better protected if they gained a licence.

The applicant, Julio Cesar Da Silva, wants to open the restaurant from 10am to 11pm seven days a week and sell alcohol until 10.30pm. Councillors considered the application during a meeting of the licensing subcommittee on Monday.

Daliah Barrett, the council’s licensing team leader, told the meeting the licence would also automatically allow the owners to play recorded music, but they had agreed not to do so. However, they would still be allowed to play lower-volume background music.

A family living above the premises lodged an objection setting out fears they would be affected by loud music and drunk and disorderly behaviour, claiming they had already experienced almost 20 years of problems while the premises was under different ownership.

Sneha Raithatha, one of the family members, told the committee that during this period she and her family had to call the council’s noise nuisance team “pretty much every weekend”, as well as being affected by cigarette smoke, patrons urinating in their car park, and “loud noise” from drunk and disorderly people on the pavement.

She pointed out that when the committee had revoked the premises licence last year, a contributing factor was the “unsuitability of the premises to be run as a late-night bar because of its proximity to residential premises”.

Her sister, Pooja Raithatha, said they had complained about noise on two occasions this year, when the premises was under the current ownership.

The applicant’s agent Manuel Rocha said “80%” of the family’s objections were “nothing to do with this business”. He said Rancho Brazil was a restaurant, not a bar, and there was a condition on the licence to only sell alcohol with food.

Manuel said not having a licence meant customers could bring their own drinks, so gaining the licence would give the restaurant more control, adding: “I think they [the neighbours] will be protected if the business has a premises licence.”

Addressing the noise complaints, Manuel said the first occasion was when the new owners had played music to mark the opening of the restaurant, while the second involved the playing of a special guitar, popular in Brazil, which was not amplified. He described these as a “mistake”, and said they stopped playing the music after receiving the complaint.

After hearing the evidence, the committee discussed the application in private. Its decision will be issued within five working days.