LOCALS are up in arms about their local café which has applied to sell booze, saying it will be a nightmare to park there.
The Elate Restaurant in the village of Rottingdean, Brighton, currently operates as a coffee shop and café during the day.
The owner, Isufaj Dritan, 48, has now applied to the City Council to sell alcohol from 11am to 10.30pm daily.
Objections have been raised by the Rottingdean Parish Council, the Brighton and Hove independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh and the people living in the flats above.
However, Sussex Police and the council’s licensing panel didn’t object because the proposed hours met with the policy of licensing restaurants until midnight, reports The Argus.
Councillor Fishleigh told a council licensing panel: “This is a quiet residential area. The outdoor area, where people have their windows directly above, they are going to be disturbed.
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“Then there is smoking outside. It says there will be a smoking policy but, in reality, people who are smoking will choose to sit outside directly below people’s windows.”
Sam Buni, who lives directly above the restaurant, is concerned about the noise and vibrations and said the building wasn’t soundproofed.
He said: “They originally opened up as a coffee shop so, for me, it’s a bit disingenuous. They should have told us their intentions from the start.
“Mostly, there are people having lunch outside and it is empty at 3pm. I am concerned when it turns into a restaurant with music. I’m absolutely positive there will be vibrations from downstairs.”
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Shelley Carroll and Gillian Horwood, who live next door to Mr Buni, have also expressed concerns about deliveries as they currently take place in front of the building and block the road outside.
Derya Teke, Mr Dritan’s agent, said the business had been set up to get deliveries at the back but residents claimed the area was their private car park and had a narrow entrance.
Ms Teke said: “The main aim for this application is not to sell alcohol off the premises or to become a bar or drinking establishment.
“As the licence is for on-sales only, to allow customers sitting at a table having a meal to order drinks from the alcohol menu, it does overcome any hesitation that this venue would become a drinking establishment.”
Potential conditions have been proposed such as restricting delivery times, as well as earlier closing for the outside area and reducing opening house on a Sunday.
Some draft conditions have already been agreed with Sussex Police, which include that alcohol can only be served to customers who are seated and having a meal.
Rubbish and recycling cannot be put outside the business between 9pm and 7am.
Any speakers playing music are not allowed to be put outside or at the entrance of the premises.
The panel has currently considering its decision which should be made public in the next few days.
Earlier this month, a restaurant that was launched by former Love Island winner Kem Cetinay has apologised over “noise and drug use” after closing its doors.
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Elsewhere, residents living next door to a posh London restaurant targeted in two near-deadly attacks say their lives have been made hell.
Meanwhile, residents living near a posh golf club say that their lives are being ruined by punters' noise.
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