Ambitious plans to open a gastro pub with its own brewery have taken a knock after objections from several key parties.
YorkMix revealed in February that the York-based Pivovar Group wants to open the Mittel River Terrace at the Guildhall complex which overlooks the River Ouse.
The £1.6 million plans would see the bar and restaurant have as its centrepiece a brewhouse creating lagers to be enjoyed on the premises.
Pivovar, which also runs Pivni, the Pavement Vaults and the York Tap among others, has submitted a licensing application for the Guildall project under its company Leeds Tap Limited.
It wants to sell alcohol from 8am to 1am every day, opening till 1.30am daily.
But the application has drawn concerns from the police, council and neighbouring businesses.
Pivovar says it will abide by the licensing objectives designed to reduce disorder by training staff, installing CCTV, serving food between midday and 9pm and keeping records.
The bar is in a ‘cumulative impact area’, where the number of licensed premises can adversely affect residents.
In a report for the City of York Council licensing hearing on Monday, North Yorkshire Police say they have met with the operators.
Officers say the conditions offered by Pivovar are welcome but “not robust enough yet to mitigate risk associated with opening a licensed premises within this area”.
They point out that the bar wants to serve alcohol without “substantial food” between 8am and midday, and 9pm to 1.30am.
“It would be our position that this would not, therefore, be a ‘food led’ premises.,” the police say.
Police suggest that the alcohol hours are changed to 10am to midnight, with the outside terrace shut at 11pm.
Environmental protection at City of York Council expressed concerns about the outdoor areas.
“The hours of operation for the external areas have not been agreed and as it stands the external areas could be used from 8am to 1am each day and then still accessed by members of the public 24 hours a day.
“If external furniture is left outside then members of the public could sit on them at any time during the night and early mornings potentially generating noise and a public nuisance.”
City of York Council’s licensing enforcement officer writes: “This premises is in an area identified by the council as being under the most stress due to crime and disorder and public nuisance, already having a high level of licensed premises.
“We do not believe that the applicant has demonstrated through the hours applied for and the operating schedule how the granting of a licence for this premises will not negatively impact those licensing objectives in this area.”
York Science Park, the leaseholder and operator of the Guildhall, says it now hosts more than 23 companies and 100-plus professionals there.
It says without more stringent conditions imposed on the operator, the bar “would be detrimental to the existing business community and the reputation of the Guildhall as a professional workspace”.
Information technology firm the Archaeology Data Service is due to move into Guildhall offices next door to the proposed pub in June.
It called the location of the gastro pub “ill-advised”.
“Given that we operate in an intensive IT research environment – regularly hosting clients and funders from the UK and abroad – the introduction of a high-volume alcohol-led business within the same footprint requires stringent mitigation,” it says.
Another tenant at the Guildhall, XR Stories, writes: “The Guildhall is a prestigious development for the city of York and speaks of our history and ambitions to anyone who visits – this reputation is at risk with a development of this nature at the very heart of the building, especially as there exist a whole selection of other alternative restaurants, bars and cafes in our immediate proximity.”
Others raise safety fears. One writes: “There are numerous alleys, under stairs areas, close quarters and dark spaces on the site that will have to be opened up. This is a concern particularly for women or vulnerable users of the site.”
At Monday’s hearing, the licensing committee will decide whether or not to grant a licence, and what conditions to impose if any.
