Green light for longer opening hours at this popular Longton cafe bar - despite public nuisance objection

Owners of the Lemon Tree in Liverpool Road sought permission from South Ribble Borough Council to increase their operational hours and play music inside and out. They said the changes would allow them to build an extension to provide an evening food service to customers, and the business would be able to hire more staff.

But the nextdoor neighbour argued it would cause a public nuisance - and said the situation had already made him leave his property at the weekends.

What’s the background?

The licence issued to the Lemon Tree in 2022 allowed the supply of alcohol from 8am to 8.30pm on Sunday to Thursdays, from 8am to 10:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, from 8am to 10.30pm on Bank Holidays and from 8am to 1am on New Years Eve. The opening hours matched.

The proposal was for alcohol supply from 8am to 11pm Sunday to Thursdays, till midnight on Friday and Saturdays and New Years Eve. The opening hours would match, apart from New Years Eve, where the venue would be open till 1am.

Music

For live music - both indoors and outdoors - the landlord asked for permission to play from 8am to 11pm Monday to Sunday. For recorded music, he asked for 8am to 11pm on Sundays to Thursdays and from 8am to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. To do this also meant changing a condition preventing use of the outside seating area after 10pm.

Public reaction

The application received 26 emails from members of the public in support of the application and one objection. Representations were also been received from two responsible authorities, the Licensing Authority and Environmental Health, but the Licensing Authority withdrew their objection.

The applicant said they wanted “to be treated the same as neighbouring premises”, all of which have later opening times than the Lemon Tree. He argued that the premises would not add to noise levels and the applicants would respect nighttime legislation.

Objection

The neighbour objected on the basis of public nuisance. They said they appreciated the attempts by the applicants to resolve issues, but said he no longer stays at his home on Friday and Saturdays as he felt “awkward” living there. Although there was some soundproofing in place, noise could still be heard from barrels being changed and music being played by the cleaners.

During Longton Live, when 50 people were outside the premises, the resident said he could not open his windows, and felt “intimidated” entering his property with so many people outside. The applicant had offered to build a larger fence, which wouldn’t affect the noise but would help with intrusion. This had been declined by the objectors as it would make the garden “feel like a prison yard”.

Agreement

South Ribble Borough Council agreed to alter the licence, but added conditions. These include:

- That music is played no later than 11pm on all days.

- The external seating area will be closed and cleared of customers by no later than 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays and any evening before a Bank holiday and by 8pm on Sundays to Thursdays.

- Whenever the external area is open, there will be an adequate number of staff present on site to monitor and regulate the behaviour of patrons within the external area.

- After 8pm, a noise assessment (relating specifically to the outside area) will be carried out at 8.30pm and 9pm by a designated member of staff to ensure there is no risk of noise nuisance.

- The outside area to the front of the premises will be restricted to a capacity of 52 customers at any time, customers must remain seated with no vertical drinking permitted in the outside area.

- There will be no external seating positioned within two meters of the front window of the neighbouring domestic property. Any external seating within two meters of the boundary of the external seating area will be strictly no smoking and should be regulated by the designated member of staff.

The premises will also have to arrange for a noise assessment to be conducted by an external engineer over a three-month period.