A venue that describes itself as the ‘latest opened, most fun, wild party bar’ in Stockport has been given permission to open even later into the early hours of the morning. Ate Days a Week, in Vernon Street, will be allowed to stay open till 4.30am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights after its application was given the nod by licensing chiefs.
It will stop serving alcohol and playing ‘background ambient’ music at 4am. Soon to boast a new ground floor ‘pizza spot’ and be rechristened Notion, its latest nights were previously Friday and Saturday, which had a kick-out time of 2.30am.
Environmental Health chiefs were concerned that noise from people gathering outside - when leaving or taking a smoke/vape break - could not be satisfactorily controlled by new licensing conditions and recommended refusal of the later ‘terminal hour’. They also fear that issues could arise in future if the premises licence is transferred to a new owner.
But members of the council’s licensing sub-committee granted the extended hours - provided the venue adopts a dispersal policy to stop people congregating outside the premises while it is open. Dave Mansbridge, the venue’s agent, said it would work closely with the council to make sure it was a ‘good licensee’.
He told the meeting: “We are mindful that Stockport is a growing town, it’s becoming more and more desirable to live in Stockport and part of the desire is fed by the night time economy and Stockport is losing out quite a bit to towns around the area.”
Mr Mansbridge reminded the committee that local residents had not objected to the extended hours, adding that the venue had only attracted one complaint since it opened, and this had been ‘dealt with swiftly’. He also made the point that Notion was not a ‘nightclub’ but a seated venue, with staff who are very well trained and ‘adept at dealing with anyone under the influence of alcohol in a calm and professional manner’.
And he insisted Notion was ‘not a loud establishment by any stretch of the imagination’. "People go into Notion to sit and chat, not to listen to banging music and dance or anything like that,” he said.
“Notion is well established as a nice bar to go into, not the sort of place you go to for a bit of rough and tumble.”
Delivering the sub-committee’s decision, chair Coun Matt Wynne said the panel had taken into account Stockport's night time economy and the fact there are ‘more residents coming into the borough’. “The face of the town centre is changing, we give that some weight and - as time goes by this decade - we are going to have to give it even more weight as people move in," he continued.
Coun Wynne also said he also agreed with the applicant that he wanted to see people staying in Stockport for a night out rather than heading for the city centre. He added: “We want to keep people here enjoying themselves safely and comfortably."
Stockport council’s licensing sub-committee met at the town hall on Wednesday night (January 11).
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