Residents in Gateacre have expressed significant concerns as a popular new restaurant chain prepares to open in the area. The pub chain Greene King is expanding its Hickory's Smokehouse restaurants into Liverpool, taking over the former Bear & Staff pub on Gateacre Brow. This will be the first Hickory's in the city, although the chain already operates smokehouses in West Kirby and Southport, with 30 locations across the UK.
Licensing Hours Spark Debate
While the premises previously had a licence to sell alcohol from 10am, Hickory's application to move this to 9am was approved at a Liverpool City Council licensing hearing on Tuesday, June 9. However, a representative for Hickory's stated there is "no immediate intention to open earlier," with the restaurant opening at 12pm on weekdays and 10am on weekends.
Lynn O'Sullivan, a resident of nearby Sandfield Road for five years, told the ECHO: "They want a licence from 9am in the morning. I think all of a sudden that's changing the aspect of the village. I can understand in some ways why they want to do it, but it's not really what we would want to do. It's not what the pub was before. I think that's quite a big concern for people." She added: "There's three pubs in this village, but it essentially is quite a quiet village."
Parking and Community Engagement Concerns
Another worry for neighbours is the potential impact on parking. Lynn said: "Our concerns about the parking is that people are going to drive to the restaurant, especially if they've got kids as well." Despite these fears, Hickory's has confirmed there are no plans to extend or reduce the existing car park size.
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed frustration over the lack of consultation from the new operators. She said: "I think what a lot of people have objected to is that they haven't really engaged with the community. If they said 'listen, this is what we're doing', we want a bit of community involvement, it's all about communication. But there's been none of that."
Preserving the Village Atmosphere
Residents believe the changes represent a significant shift from what they have become accustomed to in Gateacre. Another anonymous resident commented: "You move to a place because you fall in love with certain aspects of it, and then when something comes along that's so out of the ordinary, you think 'hang on, how's it going to be?' People move here because they like the fact that it's a conservation area, it's quiet, it's traditional. Some people don't like change, and change is always inevitable, but is it going to ruin the atmosphere, is it going to ruin the feel of a nice little community, a quiet village?"
Hickory's Response
A spokesperson for Hickory's told the ECHO: "We're looking forward to opening our doors in Gateacre next month and would like to thank the local community for such a warm welcome. We can confirm that our opening hours will be from midday on weekdays and from 10am at weekends. This will be our third restaurant in the Liverpool city region, joining our West Kirby and Southport smokehouses, both of which are situated in residential communities. We have a proud history of becoming part of the neighbourhoods we serve and look forward to welcoming familiar and new faces from Gateacre, Woolton and beyond, when we open our latest restaurant in mid-July."
