Planners grant Birmingham pub longer opening hours

A Birmingham pub has been granted permission to extend its opening hours despite concerns from residents in the area.

J D Wetherspoon wanted to extend the hours of The Elizabeth of York in St Marys Row, Moseley, to bring it into line with other establishments in the urban village.

It wanted to extend the hours to 7am-1am on Fridays, Saturdays and Bank Holiday Sunday evenings. It previously had consent for 7am-11.30pm Sundays to Thursdays and 7am-12.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

The pub is situated within Moseley’s main shopping area but Birmingham’s planning committee was told a number of residents lived close enough to have their amenity considered.

Nine letters of objection and three letters of general comment were submitted as a result of a public consultation on the application asking for conditions to be put in place to preserve the amenity of residents.

The committee was told there are a number of pubs within the village which have no planning restrictions, most because of their age. The Bull’s Head, The Dark Horse, The Village and Bohemian are licensed to sell alcohol until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, and The Patrick Kavanagh and Prince of Wales until 12.30am on the same days.

It said that of more relevance to the Wetherspoon’s application was the pubs where planning restrictions exist to protect residential amenity.

The One Trick Pony Club and the proposed Dares have consented opening hours until 1am (the former on a one-year trial basis) on Fridays and Saturdays, and The Dark Horse until 12.30am.

Allowing the extension to The Elizabeth of York would therefore bring it into line with these.

To protect the amenity of residents, Wetherspoons suggested attaching a condition to any consent to ensure that the pub’s rear doors are closed and only used for emergency purposes after 11pm.

This was deemed acceptable and a further condition restricting live or recorded music was also passed.