A bid to turn a former Isle of Wight church into a Lounges cafe bar, similar to Newport’s Correo Lounge, has encountered stiff resistance from residents.
Hospitality chain Loungers UK applied for a premises license to open a food and drink venue in the disused, early 20th century Cowes Methodist Church.
Objections from locals
However, the application was met with objections from five members of the public at a meeting of the Isle of Wight council’s licensing sub committee on Friday.
One critic, David Millar, said the application was “wrong” on the basis of both the building and location. He said,
“I believe the noise will be considerable – I do not believe this is a typical family eating place – if so why the late hours?
“Inside they will demand music and you may call it background music – to me background music is somebody tinkling on a piano.
“This to me is heavy rock, what I hear coming from these establishments: thumping bass noise.”
Brown: It’s not really wanted by the community, in my view
West Hill Road resident Susan Brown said,
“The use proposed by the applicant is nothing like what was there before.
“There has been considerable opposition to this application in the community.
“It’s not really wanted by the community, in my view.”
Morton: This is bound to turn into another party house venue
Birmingham Road resident Peter Morton said,
“I still believe there is a public nuisance issue with this application.
“And despite the applications, the assertions from Loungers, this is bound to turn into another party house venue – in the same manner as most of the clubs and most of the pubs and restaurants in Cowes are used for that purpose.
“And as Susan said, yachties are quite noisy and tend to stay up late, and I don’t believe it’s going to be any different here than any of the other establishments in Cowes.
“And this is not in the high street, it’s in a residential area.”
Loungers UK: It’s not the way a lounge operates
A spokesperson for Loungers UK said,
“We recruit locally, wherever possible, so we bring benefit of employment to the town.
“We don’t create the impression that at 11pm or midnight, whenever we close, there’s going to be 200 people at a lounge and then dispersing onto the high street.
“It’s not the way a lounge operates.”
Loungers UK operates over 230 sites across the UK with two brands: The Lounges and The Cosy Clubs.
Application approved
Councillor Julie Jones-Evans confirmed to OnTheWight that the sub-committee approved the application.
Article edit
12pm 4th Oct 2024 – Approval details added
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
