Popular Hope Street moment could have a defining week as it finds itself on collision with local authority
Popular Hope Street moment could have a defining week as it finds itself on collision with local authority
A popular city centre bar known for promoting grassroots musicians faces a crucial meeting about its future this week.
Arts Bar opened in Hope Street in 2019 and has become a popular venue in the city, known as a space for live music and a place to promote up and coming artists from the city and region. The success of the business led its owners to open a second site on Parliament Street called Arts Bar Baltic.
But the original Hope Street bar is on course for a showdown with Liverpool City Council this week as it seeks permission to extend its opening hours. Currently the venue is allowed to open from 9am until 1.30am each day, with permission for live and recorded music to play until 1am.
The business is now asking for the ability to open for an extra hour until 2.30am. But this application looks to have put the popular bar on a potential collision course with council officers ahead of a licensing committee meeting on Friday.
The request for a later opening time has raised concerns with council environment health officers who have revealed that they had received a noise complaint about the operation of the premises, in particular due to live music/drumming.
Dr Ian Rushforth from the city’s environmental health team said his team had received a noise complaint about the operation of the premises, in particular due to live music and/or drumming.
In a written submission to the committee, he said a warning letter had been sent to the Arts Bar, but at time of writing Environmental Health have not had any response from the management of the premises. He added: “The proposed variation to the licence could exacerbate the noise issue.”
In an additional written representation, one unnamed group said: “Since the Arts Bar began trading in 2019, it has caused consistent noise disturbances, which have become more acute since the pandemic. Amplified music events regularly disrupt our evening classes, rehearsals, and examinations, significantly affecting the learning environment.”
The objector said the venue had failed to take action regarding the issues and called for the installation of noise limiters in the event the proposals go ahead. The plans will be considered by Liverpool Council’s gambling and sub-committee when it meets on November 20. The committee meeting will be held at 10am on Friday January 10.
