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18
Oct
‘We are considerate, conscientious operators’: Harrogate business owners respond to bar plan objections
Two local business owners have responded to objections made against their plans for a bar just off Harrogate’s Ripon Road.
Josh Molloy and Daniel Duckworth, who own Paradise Harrogate and Husk Beer Emporium and Bar respectively, are seeking approval to convert the former GetiLashed salon unit on Omega Street into a “drinking establishment with enhanced food provision”.
The unit has been vacant for some time, but several residents have publicly objected to the plans after raising concerns over noise, parking and anti-social behaviour.
One objector, Rebecca Gilford-Anderson, called the proposal “unbelievable” and was unhappy about the bar’s potential opening times.
According to planning documents, it could open from 8am until 11pm, Monday to Thursday, 8am until midnight on Fridays, 9am until midnight on Saturdays and 9am until 10pm on Sundays. This would cater for morning coffee and evening drinks, they add.
But Ms Gilford-Anderson said the proposed operating hours would have an “adverse impact” on nearby residents, raising concerns over “doors slamming and music playing until late at night”.
Linda Corbett, who submitted an objection to the plans, said Omega Street "already struggles with limited parking" and feels the proposal would "exacerbate the issue".
Ms Corbett added: "The nature of the business serving alcohol could attract disruptive behaviour that our quiet, residential street is not equipped to handle".
Harrogate Town Council also formally objected to the plans. It said councillors were concerned the bar could negatively impact residents and felt the application did not sufficiently address waste storage and parking provisions.
The Stray Ferret approached Mr Duckworth, who is listed as the applicant on the plans, for comment about the objections.
We also asked for more information about the bar.
Mr Molloy and Mr Duckworth told the Stray Ferret the proposed bar would be a joint venture.
In a joint statement, they said:
The working title for now is Little Wonder, as a little nod to the pub which used to be a few metres further down Ripon Road [but] sadly closed about 10 years ago. We’re hoping to provide a little neighbourhood bar to the residents of the area with a focus on great beer from local microbreweries, alongside fine wine and speciality coffee. Whilst our application does include ‘enhanced food provision’ we’ve no plans currently to make use of that entitlement, beyond maybe a pork pie or sandwich, packaged off-site.
They acknowledged the “completely valid” concerns raised by the objectors, but reassured residents these would be addressed when they apply for a premises licence.
Mr Molloy and Mr Duckworth said:
We’d like to remind anyone viewing our planning application that following this application we’ll also be required to apply for a premises licence, where we’d work with the police, the fire service, local residents etc on all of the above concerns and many, many more.
The planning application is a form - a question-and-answer - we’re only able to answer the questions we’re asked within the form. A premises licence application is open-ended, it gives us space to explain what we want to do, and why, and how we’re going to uphold the main licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm.
We completely expect that during the process of a premises licence application we’d have conditions placed on our licence to help us uphold those objectives, and we welcome this, for everyone’s benefit.
The proposed site layout for the bar. Credit: White Rose Architectural Ltd
They added both of their existing businesses “co-exist perfectly peacefully” with nearby residents, and described themselves as “considerate, conscientious operators”.
Mr Molloy and Mr Duckworth also hope the proposed site would act as a new social space for residents:
Pubs provide a physical place where people meet, where emotional bonds are created, where interpersonal relationships can thrive.
I run Paradise Harrogate and Danny runs Husk. We’re both extremely proud that our existing venues not only operate as businesses but perform an important social function for the communities that have built around them. We’ve every intention to provide the same safe space for the patrons of our next project, and their families.
Ultimately, if our application is declined due to objections from local residents, then the planning process will have performed its function - it’s in no-ones interest for us to open a bar that the town doesn’t want. However, we’ve enjoyed very much seeing other similar projects, such as The Office Ale House on Skipton Road, make a great success of it and we’d love to have the opportunity to provide similar to Ripon Road. We would invite anyone who would make use of Little Wonder to offer a comment in support.
North Yorkshire Council will issue a verdict on the plans at a later date.
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