A plan to open a Crouch End cafe selling alcohol until late evening has drawn complaints from neighbours concerned over noise.
Alp Cafe, set to open at 42A-44 Park Road, would be allowed to sell alcohol from 10am until 10.30pm under plans considered during a meeting of Haringey Council’s licensing committee on Thursday. Alcohol sales would be allowed with food deliveries until the cafe closes at 11pm.
The council received four objections from neighbours, who feared noise from the cafe and delivery bikes would cause a nuisance.
Speaking during the meeting, Dahlia Barrett, the council’s licensing team leader, said applicant Alper Oztaskin had changed the plans in a bid to address the concerns. She explained a toilet had been moved away from the rear of the cafe, and Alper had clarified that delivery drivers would only use the front entrance.
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But Paula Dixon, who lives above the property and whose only access door opens on to a courtyard that would be shared with the cafe, continued to raise concerns. She told the meeting her health was already suffering because of what she anticipated “having to endure”.
Ms Dixon claimed there was no soundproofing in the building, and every room in her house would be affected. She said: “On occasion, I work nights, which means I have to sleep in the day. My son leaves for work very early in the morning, which means he needs to go to bed very early at night.”
She added: “Our privacy will be non-existent.”
The applicant’s legal adviser, Robert Sutherland, outlined a series of measures planned to reduce the impact on neighbours and proposed further changes. He pointed out that the premises already had planning permission to operate as a cafe, and the licensing application only related to the sale of alcohol.
Mr Sutherland proposed amending a licensing condition to ensure staff would not “congregate, loiter or smoke in the courtyard”, which would not be used by customers. He also proposed adding a condition to ensure alcohol would only be supplied to customers seated at tables.
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The legal adviser said his understanding was that soundproofing had been installed, but if that had not addressed noise problems “it is obviously something we will need to look at again to see what the problem is”.
Ms Dixon had also raised concerns that the cafe’s fire exit would block her front door. Mr Sutherland claimed the fire door “will not be blocking the entrance”, but a review of a fire risk assessment would be carried out to see if any further steps needed to be taken. He also suggested that some responsibility for the issue could rest with the property’s landlord, which is the council.
The licensing committee subsequently discussed the application during a private session. Its decision on whether to grant the application will be published within five working days.
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