A Caribbean restaurant that has taken over the former site of one of Newcastle city centre’s most infamous takeaways has promised it “won’t be any form of nuisance” to fearful neighbours.
Locals in Waterloo Street were left worried that plans from KK’s Caribbean Cuisine to sell alcohol late into the night would mark a return to the “horror” caused by the Happy Chip. The former takeaway, which was a well-known destination for legal highs and hotspot of anti-social behaviour in the city, was stripped of its licence in 2014, having been at the centre of an investigation following claims a woman had collapsed outside the shop having bought a drug there which has subsequently been made illegal.
When KK’s launched a bid to expand its licence so it could serve and deliver booze as late as 3am every night, residents feared an influx of problems back to Waterloo Street. But city councillors were told at a Newcastle City Council licensing hearing on Tuesday morning that the plans had undergone major changes in order to protect neighbours.
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KK’s boss Kerryann Pitter told the local authority’s licensing sub-committee that, after talks with Northumbria Police and civic centre officials, she had revised her proposals so that alcohol can only be served to sit-in customers from 2pm until the restaurant’s closing time 11pm, with food-only deliveries then continuing until 2am rather than 3am. She also pledged not to serve booze to anyone who appears intoxicated, said CCTV cameras had already been installed to deter any disorder, and suggested that the alcohol sales licence cease to function if and when KK’s leaves Waterloo Street in order to avoid it passing to an irresponsible operator.
Ms Pitter promised neighbours that her business “won’t be any form of nuisance”, adding: “I would not want to leave the premises to go somewhere else and then the next person to take over affects the community.”
Ahead of the hearing, objections lodged with the council by residents of the City Quadrant apartments opposite described the “horror of the Happy Chip years” which “utterly blighted the lives of those who live in what is a predominantly residential area”. One local warned that any connection with the closed takeaway “brings fear to the current residents who remember the noise, mess, and drug misuse into the late hours”.
Waterloo Street resident David Lydall told the committee hearing on Tuesday that the premises now occupied by KK’s had been a “constant issue” since he moved to the area and raised concerns about noise from patrons and delivery drivers causing disturbance after 11pm. He said: “My concern given the pedigree or history of this place is that with a good licensee it might be okay but next time the person who inherits the licence makes our lives in Waterloo Street much worse, as they have before.”
In response to Mr Lydall’s fears about alcohol sales exacerbating past problems in the street, Ms Pitter said that she wanted to serve beers, wine, and cocktails as enjoying a drink with a plate of jerk chicken was a part of Caribbean culture. Council environmental health expert Angela Wallis said had long been a problem area as a popular taxi pickup location, causing people to congregate around takeaways there, but that Ms Pitter’s changes had been “a positive move”.
The council will issue a decision on whether to grant the licence within five working days.
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