The Drawing Room, a bar on Burton Road in Didsbury, has had a 20-year licensing restriction on music removed after appearing before a Manchester council licensing hearing on Monday (November 2).
The venue had applied to scrap the condition that any music played must be 'purely incidental', saying it had been advised to do so because the condition was 'not considered relevant' to its current operations.
Objection dropped after new measures proposed
The application initially faced an objection from Manchester council's licensing and out of hours team, along with letters from councillors raising concerns about the impact of the bar on the local community. However, the team decided to drop its objection, and owner Abi Pulleyn's application was granted.
Ms Pulleyn said she would bring in new measures to turn the situation around, including installing a digital noise limiter and an automatic door that shuts on its own.
Owner responds to community concerns
Speaking at the hearing, Ms Pulleyn said: "I understand the concerns raised about the Drawing Room over a number of years including noise from music, customers gathering outside, door management, and customer dispersal."
She added: "I do not want to dismiss those concerns and suggest that the residents' experiences are unimportant, however I believe it's important to distinguish between the historical management of the premises and the business under my ownership today."
Ms Pulleyn said her vision for the bar was to create a welcoming venue with a good atmosphere that attracts customers early in the day and evening, contributing positively to Burton Road. She said music was a normal part of that experience and that losing the ability to play music would make her business model unsuccessful.
Before the meeting, two local councillors had raised concerns about how the venue was being run. Councillor Richard Kilpatrick wrote: "Over the last few years, we have had a number of incidents that have brought into question the ability of the licensee to fulfil their legal duty."
He cited resident reports of failure to manage the outside space and video evidence provided to the police over the premises being the source of public disorder.
