Island Life Craft Brewery has cleared the first hurdle in its attempts to bring a new ale house to East Cowes, after the Isle of Wight Council’s licensing sub-committee granted it permission to serve alcohol.
However, before it can officially open, it first needs to obtain planning permission.
At today’s committee meeting, concerns had been raised by a nearby resident who said loud noise would impact and disrupt neighbours and businesses in the area.
Environmental health officers said they understood the concerns but had worked with the applicant, Glenn Johnson, to agree mitigating factors which would reduce the likelihood of noise nuisance.
They included the installation of sound insulation, not allowing drinks outside, and prominent signs at the exit to encourage customers to be quiet when leaving. Mr Johnson said it was easy to say the establishment would be another pub but most craft ale houses don’t sell the basic beers and they tend to be more calm.
He said craft ale was interesting, like a sweetshop with small amounts of different beer to try, not copious amounts of lager and spirits.
Mr Johnson said:
“I’m not opening this ale house because I want a rowdy establishment. I love brewing beer and I want people to experience it.”
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Concerns still remained about how sound insulation could be installed in the listed building and whether it would be sufficient enough to stop noise coming in.
Mr Johnson said he still needed to submit a planning application to officially change the use of the former shop into an ale house, so it may not happen although it would be a shame if it did not.
The brewery currently operates from the back room of a house further down the road, but is looking to expand into what used to be the Old Curiosity Shop.
Crafted beer is a more specialised form of drinking than that sold in public houses and it is usually appreciated by only a certain group. Should the premises become a noisy drinking ground then action should be taken then, it is wrong to stop a business, especially in present climate, for a “just in case” situation. I am sure the owner will be responsible for rowdy persons and those who let the brew get the better of them and remove them from the premises before this situation occurs, which is more than some publicans do. E Cowes can be like a ghost town, and this is a person willing to invest we should not be put off but “what if” situations as we need more people into the town if only to stop Red Funnel knocking and flattening more,
Good luck.
Let’s hope they say yes .
You are a small business and deserve to prosper.
A bar in a town centre! How can anyone object to that? Noise in a town centre should not be a cause for complaint because it is simply an indicator of life and people enjoying living it. If people want silence, they should go and live in the countryside, although they would probably then complain about the birds singing, cattle lowing, and farmers mowing hay. They could always join a religious order if they want total silence.
Good luck to them. It’ll be an asset to the area. Craft beer places are not known for rowdy customers