Council considers re-opening former Bamboodle location
AN application to re-open the unit formerly occupied by Bamboodle in Stratford town centre is to be considered by the district council, just months after it was stripped of its licence for a string of health and safety breaches.
The bar on Union Street saw its licence revoked back in March after environmental health inspectors, prompted by complaints from residents, uncovered a number of breaches of its licensing conditions.
They included chronic overcrowding at the venue, door staff not knowing how many people were inside the building, people blocking the pavement outside and spilling onto the road, and excessive noise coming from the premises.
Inspectors said they did not recognise the bar from the layout plans included with the original licence application and concluded that the operator had showed a total lack of respect for their licensing conditions.
The operator of Bamboodle unsuccessfully appealed the decision and the bar closed its doors to customers back in July.
However, a company by the name of O E Leisure Ltd has applied for a new licence to run the venue. In an attempt to address the issues identified, the applicant has put forward a number of revised conditions including putting barriers to manage smokers and people queuing, and limiting the venue’s capacity strictly to 60.
Staff will also receive training in conflict resolution, the use of CCTV and security, while opening hours from Sunday to Wednesday will be reduced to midnight. It is proposed that the venue will close at 1.30am Thursday to Saturday.
The licensing committee at Stratford District Council is set to meet on next Wednesday to make a decision on whether to grant a new licence, though there is considerable opposition to such a move.
The police, the council’s own environmental health officers, around 20 local residents, and local ward member Cllr Tony Jefferson have all objected to the application.
In its representations to the panel Warwickshire Police say there has been a 50 per cent reduction in incident reports in the Union Street area in the months following Bamboodle’s closure, when compared with the previous year. It adds that many of the issues surrounding the closure of Bamboodle revolved around the location, building design and activities taking place on the premises and to allow a new licence for similar activities, albeit with slightly shorter hours, would give rise to similar issues.
The police statement concludes: “The premises is not in a suitable location for a late night venue, this has been tried and failed. The layout of the premises, the location, outside road is not suitable for what is being applied for, if the premises licence is issued as initially submitted or as subsequently altered by their legal team, then Warwickshire Police have serious concerns that it will give a rise in crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour in the locality. In all reality the venue and building is only suitable for a premises as a restaurant, with restaurant conditions until 11pm and no more. Warwickshire Police will request that the licensing hearing panel refuse this application.”
