Those living close to a new restaurant have objected to plans for its opening hours to be extended over noise and public safety concerns.
The new People restaurant and bar, on the former site of Karam, Côte Brasserie and Hale Grill on Ashley Road in Hale, currently opens from 11am to 00.30am daily.
Now the owners have applied to Trafford council to have its licensed hours extended and have also applied to change the name of the restaurant from Karam to People.
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The new hours, if approved, will mean the European-influenced restaurant, which received £50,000 worth of investment before opening earlier this year, can open from 9am and close at midnight everyday.
But those living nearby have written to the council to object.
Eight local residents, a council environmental health officer and a local councillor have voiced their concerns about the proposals.
For residents, their worries are with regards to 'prevention of public nuisance, the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and protection of children from harm'.
One nearby resident wrote: “Since the restaurant opened there has been an increase in the number of cars, taxis and other vehicles parked at the junction of with Westgate and Ashley Road. As well as the increase in noise this is a serious traffic hazard and is a public safety concern.
“There is no sound proofing or barrier between the restaurant and any of the properties on Westgate. This is detrimental to the quiet enjoyment of residents, particularly in the evening.
“Our daughter is of school age. Her sleep is often disturbed in the evening and in the early morning by the noise emanating from the premises. Extending the license will exacerbate this.”
Another wrote: “Residents in this area already suffer noise nuisance and antisocial behaviour at all hours of the day and night. They have endured this inconvenience for many years extending the license further does little to reduce anti-social behaviour and crime in the centre of Hale.”
And a third resident added: “Many people have been unable to have their windows open during the summer due to the noise which has been intrusive and has impacted upon quiet enjoyment. This will only get worse during the Christmas period.”
An environmental health officer from the council also put in a representation regarding the application.
He wrote: “There has been a history of noise complaints relating to the above site due to its very close proximity to a number of noise sensitive residential premises on Westgate.”
They added that the opening hours permitted by the licence should instead be 9am to midnight Monday to Saturday and 10am to midnight on Sundays and bank holidays. They also advised the premises should be prohibited from selling alcohol that can be consumed off the premises and speakers, music or sound should also be prohibited from any external area of the site.
Coun Patricia Young, councillor for Hale Central, also wrote to the authority to express her concerns.
She said: “The residents in Westgate are being disturbed, virtually on a daily basis, by noise emanating from People. The residents have been keeping diaries of all the occasions on which they have been either woken up or otherwise disturbed by noise from People and have been reduced to having to keep the windows of their houses firmly closed even in the warm and sunny days that we have recently been experiencing.
“Frankly I feel that the only way to restore normal peaceful existence to the residents in Westgate would be to echo the current Planning Permission and ban all outside service.”
The application will be considered by Trafford council’s licensing committee on Wednesday November 3.
