Cardiff council has issued enforcement notices to two venues owned by one of Wales' best known chefs after neighbours complained about noise from customers drinking on terraces late in the evening.
Tommy Heaney owns Heaney's restaurant and the neighbouring Uisce wine and oyster bar at Romilly Crescent in Pontcanna, Cardiff. Both venues have now been told to stop allowing customers to drink on the terraces after agreed hours.
Planning condition breach
The venues can currently only let customers sit outside on the terraces beside the road between 9am and 9pm due to a planning condition. However, it has emerged that customers are not sticking to that rule.
Following a council investigation after multiple noise complaints, a spokesperson for the council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “On August 21 the local planning authority issued notices to Heaney’s and Uisce by Heaney’s at 4 and 6–10 Romilly Crescent.
“The notices require the businesses to comply with their planning permissions by stopping use of the outdoor frontage seating areas between 9pm and 9am.
“If further non-compliance occurs after 28 days from the date the notices were served, an offence will have been committed, and the local planning authority may consider prosecution in relation to these breaches. This action was taken under Section 187A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.”
Extension application
Last month Mr Heaney applied for the hours at Uisce to be extended to 10pm from Sunday to Thursday and 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. He also wants to be allowed to open until 11pm on Sundays before a bank holiday Monday.
According to the bar these extended hours align directly with the established use of outdoor areas by other licensed premises in the area such as the Robin Hood pub.
The application for Uisce continues: “Permitting Uisce to extend its terrace hours will ensure a fair and consistent approach to the night time economy, aligning the premises with established local precedents without introducing an uncharacteristic level of activity to the neighbourhood.”
Neighbour objections
However, neighbours have objected to these extended hours. One neighbour said: “This is a residential area where the residents have the right to enjoy their homes and gardens without noise from a rowdy bar affecting our quality of life and our mental health.”
Another added: “Because of the proximity of the seating area to residential properties, this creates a considerable level of noise which can be clearly heard from my home.”
Regarding the new application, the restaurant wrote that various noise mitigation measures would be put in place. Heaney’s and Uisce were contacted for comment.
