Brudenell's Wetherby site allowed to hold late night gigs

Brudenell Presents Ltd, which runs The Wetherby in Sandbeck Way, applied for a licence which could see bands play until 1am at weekends.

But one councillor in the area has claimed the venue is just “yards” from a planned old people’s home.

The venue will be able to play live or recorded music until midnight from Sunday to Thursday and until 1am on Friday and Saturday.

Applicant Nathan Clark told the meeting: “As an organisation that holds licences in the Leeds area, we believe we have a proven track record of operating responsibly.

“It is a community run organisation and will continue to be so.”

He added music gigs would rarely go on until 1am, and the majority of shows would finish at 11pm, followed by a “cooling down” period before clientelle go home.

He added: “We believe our track record for people in place who are currently managing it should alleviate any objection and concern.

“We are working with the community, not against it. We are trying to help an establishment that got into some financial difficulty previously for the local community.”

Council planning officer Adam Ward, told the meeting: “We have recently dealt with a new care home on the opposite side of the road in 2017.

“With regard to the authorised hours, we thought it was appropriate to allow the care home to be built in the context of the 11.30pm finish time.

“When you look out onto the plans of the care home, there are 20 bedrooms that look out onto the social club, separated by 40 meters.

“In our opinion, based on a closing time of 1am, and based on people leaving those premises, this gives rise to concerns.

“People in these bedrooms deserve peace and tranquillity and to enjoy life.”

He added that the home is likely to be occupied at some point in 2019.

He said: “As a result of that, (residents) would be affected by this and do not have a chance to voice their concerns. It’s only right and proper that regard is given to these people.

“It may be that people in the care home can take advantage of these during the day.

“But it’s our concern that the downsides in the evening outweigh the benefit.”

Objecting to the application, Coun Gerald Wilkinson told the meeting: “Had this application come before you three or four years ago, I would not have objected to it.

“But, in the last few years, three things have happened.

“A sheltered housing complex for adults, a 57-home estate was built just a stone’s throw away, and a care home will be opened in the future.

“I have no objection to the licence until 11.30pm, but it will be very disturbing for any of the people living there to have to put up with drunken louts coming out in the early hours of the morning.”

Mr Clark responded: “The nature of the business is not something that we will be changing.

“Loutish behaviour has gone out of the establishment, and events with excessive noise would be allowed to finish at 11pm, so we can have a cooling down period and deal with it in an appropriate manner.

“At this time, we are providing all the necessary evidence and application to be a responsible outlet up to and beyond 11pm.”

After a lengthy closed discussion, a council legal officer told the meeting: “The committee has agreed to grant the application.

“If they are found to be in breach of their premises licence this can be brought back to review.”