Cornwall beach bar owner says 'we definitely don't want to be a nightclub'
Residents of a Cornish seaside village have told a Cornwall Council meeting of their concerns about noise and rowdy behaviour by partygoers after bar owners applied to change their licence. However, the family running the Welloe Inn stressed "we definitely don't want to be a nightclub".
Brothers Christian and Oliver Waite applied for a new premises licence to alter the times the beach bar and restaurant in Praa Sands opens, which received concerned responses from 15 residents of the village between Porthleven and Penzance.
A meeting of a council licensing committee heard today (Wednesday, May 8) that the Waites wanted to change the opening hours from 11am until 2am to 9am until 1.30am. Oliver Waite said: "There's been quite a lot of objections saying we want to extend our opening hours, but, ironically, we will be closing earlier than current hours. We've stayed open until 2am on three occasions - one was a Halloween event, a charity pirate party which the entire village took part in and another party. We're trying to reduce the late night opening rather than increase it."
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Mr Waite said the venue serves breakfast from 9am and pizzas, fish and chips and burgers from noon until 8pm and tends to close by 10pm. He likened the operation to the Gylly Beach Café in Falmouth. "We don't want to open as a late nightclub, that's not our intention," he added.
One of those who had concerns about the plans, Bob Burnard, who has lived in Praaa Sands for 46 years, said: "During the '90s and early Noughties when the Welloe was turned into a nightclub, it was a horror situation in the village. To be fair, listening to Christian and Oliver I've taken much reassurance from what they've said that they will not use it as a nightclub. I'm very pleased to hear that."
However, another resident, Diana Thomas, who lives five minutes from the Welloe, still had concerns: "Whilst I'm pleased to see the Welloe revitalised under new ownership and becoming a thriving business in daylight hours for locals and holidaymakers, my major concern is the opening hours until 1.30am every day.
"We live in an area of outstanding natural beauty and the Welloe is adjacent to a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) which needs to be protected from potential damage by partygoers. You need to consider how the hours will negatively impact the local community - noise, the health and safety of residents, the loud music indoors and outdoors, in the summer windows and doors will be open."
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Addressing Mr Waite, she added: "I'm interested that you said it was not going to be a nightclub - there's quite an interesting photograph on your website that suggests exactly that; people crammed in like sardines using glasses not plastic as you've mentioned in your write-up previously.
"We know from past experience the litter, the damage to residents' gardens, damage to Praa Green from people camping, the mess left behind - human mess which had to be cleared, the noise of cars arriving and especially leaving the venue in the early hours disturbing residents throughout the village, not to mention the increase in carbon emissions.
"There are no public toilets in Praa Sands. After closing time, what happens? I think we can guess, we've seen it all before. We see it now."
Charity Wilson, representing her mother who lives "incredibly close" to the Welloe Inn, also addressed the meeting. She said: "The main issue for us is that the application very much reads like an application for a nightclub, even though that might not be the intention. Specifically, indoor and outdoor music seven nights a week until 1.30am. Although that might not be the intention as they've clearly said, once that application is granted that's how the premises can be run.
"We have to look at the application in terms of the setting - it is a small village and there isn't a transport network. There are two taxi firms in the local area. We're not talking about Gyllyngvase, we're not in the context of a university town." She asked for conditions to be added to ensure it's not run as a nightclub.
Ms Wilson added that drunken people could meander through the village with nowhere to go - "we've seen this time and time again when there has been that late licensing".
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Mr Waite responded to the concerns: "I believe a lot of what everyone has said is in response to previous tenants, namely the Sandbar as it was before. If you rewind about 15 years ago when it was a nightclub, they put on party buses from Penzance, Porthleven and Helston and brought everybody here for big events on a lot of weekends, which we have no intention of doing."
He stressed there would be no late-night noise and said glass was not used during events and they operate the venue responsibly. Mr Waite added that public toilets overseen by the local council in a nearby car park were only open less than half the year and the rest of the time the public uses the Welloe's toilets, which the owners were bemused by. They were seeking assurances that the public loos would reopen.
The committee agreed to grant the 1.30am closure but only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays when there is a bank holiday the next day. The rest of the week would see the Welloe closing at 11.30pm with all music stopping at 11pm.