Fears new late-night dessert café could see more trouble at £100 million Derby estate

A petition has been signed by 30 worried residents against the opening of a new dessert café at late-night hours, with fears it could trigger more problems at a new and troublesome Derby estate. Kave Desserts is set to be situated on Liversage Street, within the new £100 million Castleward estate in Derby city centre alongside where other businesses are based.

But there are huge concerns the granting of late night opening hours could increase trouble in an area, which already has been plagued with anti-social behaviour problems since it came to prominence.

The owners of the new store, MS Delights Ltd, have applied for a premises licence to the city council ahead of its planned opening.

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Licensing documents released by the council state the owners wish for the café to be open from 10am to 2am Sunday to Thursday and 10am to 3am on Friday’s and Saturday’s. Documents state there are no plans to sell alcohol in or outside the café.

But due to there being submitted concerns surrounding the premises, a final decision on licensing and opening hours will not be made until a Derby City Council hearing is held later this month. The meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday, November 21.

Councillors making the decision must be sure that the council’s licensing objectives can be met by granting the licence. These objectives include: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm.

MS Delights Ltd say in its application: “The premises will operate as a specialist dessert café offering a range of products including coffee, patisserie, cookie dough, ice cream, cakes and milkshakes. The premises are designed to cater both dine-in customers and delivery orders.

“While no alcohol will be served on or off the premises, the business will ensure the safety and security of its customers and staff using CCTV surveillance throughout the property. Waste management facilities are also in place.”

But residents living close to the new café are against its plans to stay open late at night up until 2am and 3am during weekends. The group says residents living above the ground floor café will struggle to sleep and fear more trouble will kick off.

In a letter to the council, the Castleward Residents Group said: “The proposed opening hours of until 2am and 3am is in complete contrast to all other shops in the area. Such opening times would have a clear impact on the residents’ ability to sleep and their normal lives, particularly for those houses above and immediately adjacent to the shop.

“Those who have brought into the vision of the Castleward Urban Village have done so on the basis that late night establishments would not be implemented. Numerous working professionals and families have moved into the area on this basis.

“Granting of the licence would unnecessarily create a new late-night area from the city centre and one that is within a residential area. The Castleward area is an area with known and well publicised anti social behaviour issues arising from people transiting through.“

MS Delights Ltd said in its application noise levels will be closely monitored, soundproofing will be installed and music volume would be limited during late hours. They also said entry to the café will be controlled to avoid overcrowding and the venue will not exceed capacity. An incident log form will be used to record any incidents which will be made available to police and other authorities.

Last year it was reported how residents in the Castleward area signed another petition calling on the council to make immediate safety improvements to the area after claiming there was constant trouble on their doorsteps. Residents released a video to the Local Democracy Reporting Service of a fight taking place and claimed at the time they did not feel safe.

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