A decision on the future of a city centre bar has been delayed after the councillor who registered complaints couldn’t attend the hearing.
As a result of complaints being made about On Point on Victoria Street, Liverpool Council ’s licensing and gambling sub-committee was due to meet to determine whether to strip the venue of its licence to trade alcohol. The application for a review had been brought about by central ward member Cllr Nick Small.
The review was launched “related to the licensing objectives of the prevention of public nuisance” and was scheduled for this morning (Thursday, May 12) with representatives of the bar and members of the public in attendance at Liverpool Town Hall. However, owing to Cllr Small’s work schedule, the committee was forced to defer the meeting to allow him to attend and make representations on behalf of residents.
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Cllr Small made the committee aware by email on Tuesday, May 10 that he would only be available for two hours owing to prior work commitments. Committee chair Cllr Pauline Walton apologised to those present that the proceedings had to be halted, meaning On Point has retained its licence for now.
On its social media pages, On Point describes itself as Liverpool’s first fully interactive cocktail bar. The city centre venue opens from 4pm to 11.45pm on Thursdays, 4pm to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays, and 4pm to midnight on Sunday.
It currently has a premises licence that permits the performance of live music and playing of recorded music during its opening hours. The licence was awarded by Liverpool Council in May 2020.
Despite applying for the review, Cllr Small said previously that he wanted the venue to do well. He said: "I've had a number of complaints from different residents living above the premises about noise and music being persistently played outside permitted hours in breach of the premises licence.
“This has been reported to the premises licence holder and Environmental Health, but the problems continue. I hope the premises will take this seriously, sort this out and be better neighbours. It's a great venue and I want it to do well."
A spokesperson for On Point told the ECHO in April the issues would be resolved quickly and said the bar had “the support of the wider community.”
More than a dozen representations have been made in support of the venue to the committee, including from an unnamed city councillor sitting on the licensing committee. A total of two representations have been made calling for the licence to be stripped.
