Venue’s licence opposed over privacy fears from resident
A resident has opposed a licence for a Sutton Coldfield music venue over fears people would be able to “peer” into their home at night.
The Rhodehouse has applied for a licence for alcohol and live and recorded music at the site of the former Arts House bar and music venue in The Parade.
Staff intend for it to open from 8am until 12 midnight Sunday-Friday, and 8am to 12.30am on Saturdays.
Alcohol is intended to be served from 9am until 11.30pm Sunday to Friday and until midnight on Saturdays.
Live or recorded music is intended to run from 11am to 11pm Sunday to Friday and 11am to 11.30pm on Saturdays.
But a resident who lives nearby has said the licence will have “a detrimental effect on [their] privacy, and peaceful enjoyment of [their] home”.
A letter of objection states: “The [venue] has large windows covering the whole upper level directly looking into my residence.
Nuisance
“The activity times applied for would effectively mean people would be able to peer into my residence throughout the day, night, and into the early hours of the morning. This would deny my right to privacy and peaceful enjoyment of my home.
“The applied for activity times and licensable activities (e.g. live music, recorded music, sale of alcohol) would cause a nuisance by increasing noise levels and number of patrons/visitors throughout the day, night, and early hours of the morning.
“For residents like myself, this would make it unbearable to live in the vicinity. It would also make it unsafe for me to freely enter and leave my premises without being harassed by crowds of drinking and smoking people, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays.”
The resident adds when the previous Arts House venue was open, “there were groups of people loitering outside on the pavement smoking and drinking”.
They added: “They would leave litter and empty beer bottles, as well as vomit on the pavement near The Arts House and outside my premises.”
The application is due to be heard by a Birmingham City Council licensing sub-committee on March 9 from 10am which can be viewed at civico.net/birmingham
