A snooker club in Newcastle’s West End has pleaded with city decision-makers to let it stay open later into the night – amid claims it could turn into a “destination venue”.
The Ballerz Snooker Lounge in Benwell is bidding to extend its opening hours on Fridays and Saturdays from 11pm to 2am, as it tries to boost business and recover from the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic. Club secretary Ali Pervez told councillors on Tuesday morning that the club was “really struggling” and needed to secure a later licence in order to stay financially viable.
Despite striking a deal with Northumbria Police over the plans, having agreed to drastically curtail its original application to open until 4am daily, the Adelaide Terrace venue was still met with opposition from city council officials.
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Mr Pervez told a hearing of Newcastle City Council’s licensing sub-committee: “We need the extension. We went through quite a struggling time with Covid, we were closed for a long period and the business struggled a bit. We managed to get back on our feet and sign up quite a few members.
“But the problem is that quite a few members want the club to open later on a weekend. They tend to be free later in the night, they come in at 9pm or 10pm and then the club has to close at 11. We are really struggling on the business side.
“For the business to be viable we need the licensable activities to be extended at the weekends, at least until 2am if possible.”
However, council licensing boss Jonathan Bryce spoke against the plans – claiming that the 2am closing hour would turn the 300-member snooker club into a “destination venue” in the West End as it would be open later than any of its neighbours, adding that nothing was being offered to offset the potential extra nuisance caused by patrons.
He warned: “I don’t believe personally that that application shows much regard to the locality and its residential surroundings.”
While Mr Pervez told the committee that Ballerz had not been the subject of any noise complaints since it opened, council environmental health chief Angela Wallis claimed that was only because “the current hours of trading are adequate for the style of operation”.
Mr Pervez reassured councillors that any troublemakers would be immediately barred from the club, saying: “We have put a lot of investment into the club. We have not invested so much just for it to become rowdy, we don’t want to risk losing our licence at all.”
The council is due to issue a decision on the licence application within five working days.
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