Plans to create a smoking area behind a Warwick champagne bar and extend its opening hours have been withdrawn

Plans to create a smoking area on land at the rear of a Warwick champagne bar and to extend the opening hours by 30 minutes to 11.30pm have been withdrawn by the applicant.

Neighbours of The Ironworks, in Market Place, had objected to the plans along with the owner of a nearby cafe and a senior officer from Warwick District Council’s environmental health team.

Dr Henk Mulder and Dr Najmi Qureshi had applied to the council in May to make the changes. In their letter they explained that a smoking area to the rear had been created and inspected by an environmental health officer.

They added: “I have no doubt that the new smoking area will favour our current application. I hope that the changes will meet the approval of the planning officer as the current licence is anti-competitive due to the fact that all other establishments in the area have a licence until 11.30 or later.”

Six letters of support were registered with the council but four others objected including one from one of the owners of the neighbouring Wylies Cafe Tearooms who said: “The area proposed as the smoking area is 80 per cent enclosed and one of our doors - which is our exit door and food emporium entrance - opens directly into the area.

“The length of our building has two doors and four opening sash windows which are open to circulate air to ventilate the tearooms to reduce the risk of Covid and I object to anyone smoking in the area which is narrow and enclosed and would allow smoke to enter my premises, as well as noise from gathering groups of drinkers.

“The applicant states the area will not be used when our business is open. The applicant has no knowledge of our future plans for opening and we now have a new range of services we offer which includes hiring the tearooms for functions which would mean on some occasions we will be open in the evenings.”

There was also an objection from a council environmental health officer who said the proposed smoking area would be down an alleyway shared with other commercial and residential premises.

He added: “Given that the proposed smoking area is largely enclosed and would be shared with an entrance door to an existing food business, there is a potential for conflicting land uses.

“On the basis of the above, we must object to the application as we are not satisfied that the applicant has demonstrated that the proposed smoking area would be compliant with smoke-free legislation and that it will not have an adverse impact on the adjacent business.”

He went on to say that environmental health would also object to the proposed extension of opening hours on the basis that it would cause harm to existing residential amenity as a result of noise.