{"id":190829,"date":"2025-06-17T05:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T05:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/190829\/"},"modified":"2025-06-17T05:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T05:11:10","slug":"birmingham-venue-applies-to-sell-alcohol-for-18-hours-a-day-despite-residents-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/190829\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham venue applies to sell alcohol for 18 hours a day despite residents\u2019 concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Applicant Kelvin Ikechukwu wants a premises licence for 042 Bar and Restaurant in Soho Hill. He said it would provide a \u201ccontrolled, sit-down dining environment\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe site of 042 Bar and Restaurant in Soho Hill, Birmingham in June 2024. Taken from Google Street View.<\/p>\n

But the application, seeking permission to sell alcohol from 9am to 3am seven days a week, attracted concern from Birmingham City Council\u2019s Public Health team as well as numerous residents.<\/p>\n

Public Health noted the Soho and Jewellery Quarter ward ranked 29th of 69 for deprivation in Birmingham, with around 47 per cent of children living in poverty.<\/p>\n

\u201cNationally, alcohol is implicated in over 40 per cent of violent crimes,\u201d they said. \u201cIn March 2025, 205 crimes were recorded in the area locally.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvidence indicates higher number of violent crimes are related to alcohol consumption than other categories.\u201d<\/p>\n

It said late-night licensing is a \u201cknown contributor to such incidents\u201d and said \u201cintroducing an 18-hour trading venue [\u2026] risks creating a hotspot of alcohol-related disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public Health ultimately said it would support the application with a number of conditions, including that alcohol sales ended by midnight instead and the strict enforcement of Challenge 25.<\/p>\n

A number of residents urged Birmingham City Council <\/a>to reject the application, saying there was a \u201cwell-established link between late-night alcohol consumption and anti-social behaviour\u201d.<\/p>\n

In response to the concerns raised by Public Health, the applicant argued that 042 Bar and Restaurant was \u201cnot an off-licence or takeaway outlet\u201d and alcohol consumption would be strictly on-site.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt provides sit-down dining and drinks in a controlled, mature environment,\u201d Mr Ikechukwu wrote. \u201cThe clientele is predominantly African (Nigerian), aged between 30 to 60, who are more likely to engage in calm social dining than disruptive behaviour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis differs significantly from the typical late-night bar profile that attracts younger, high-risk patrons.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the proposed late hours \u201cdo not imply a party venue or club atmosphere\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather it reflects the cultural tradition of evening dining and socialising common in African communities,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

He said dispersal would be managed by trained staff and there would be \u201cclear signage\u201d advising patrons to leave quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cNoise will be controlled through internal acoustic insulation and keeping doors closed during evening service,\u201d Mr Ikechukwu said.<\/p>\n

The premises will implement a \u201crobust\u201d Challenge 25 policy, CCTV, refusal logs and trained staff to \u201cproactively prevent crime or anti-social behaviour,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u2018Fewer residents\u2019<\/p>\n

The city council\u2019<\/a>s Public Health team noted that Soho Road faced \u201cpersistent issues related to anti-social behaviour, street drinking, and public disturbance\u201d.<\/p>\n

But Mr Ikechukwu clarified that 042 Bar and Restaurant was on nearby Soho Hill, which he argued had a \u201cdistinct character\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike Soho Road, which is densely-populated with shops and residential properties, this location is more industrial and commercial units, with fewer residents and significantly less foot traffic,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe location reduces the likelihood of the premises contributing to the street-based alcohol-related issues cited in your report.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the proposed conditions suggesting alcohol sales ceased at midnight, Mr Ikechukwu said he believed a \u201cslightly later closing time\u201d, such as 12pm to 2am, may still be compatible with public health and safety.<\/p>\n

West Midlands Police said it would have no objection to the licence application if a number of conditions were imposed, including CCTV on site and that door staff are deployed from 11pm when trading past this time.<\/p>\n

The application will be considered by a council licensing sub-committee on Monday, June 23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Applicant Kelvin Ikechukwu wants a premises licence for 042 Bar and Restaurant in Soho Hill. He said it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,51,393,4884,8823,379,12,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-190829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-ldrs","14":"tag-local-hubs","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114696990491973617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}