Neighbours have expressed concerns over drinkers being loud and causing a disturbance if a bid for a café restaurant in Caversham to sell alcohol gets the go-ahead.
The Pasibrzuszek Polish Cousin Restaurant at 49 Hemdean Road opened earlier this year, taking over the ground floor which has been used as a hair salon since the 1990s.
Pasibrzuszek currently operates as a café restaurant selling Polish delicacies such as dumplings, soups, stews and continental meats.
The owners want to sell Polish beers to diners as well as food and drink from 11am to 11pm Tuesday to Sunday.
In order for the business to be able to sell alcohol, it requires a licence from Reading Borough Council. The application was submitted in April.
But neighbours in Caversham have opposed the bid to sell alcohol, expressing concerns that exiting punters would cause disturbance for those living on the road.
Patty Strack van Schijndel said: “Residents of this neighbourhood have daytime jobs and live in this area because it’s a calm and peaceful neighbourhood.
“Besides that fact, I personally don’t think a restaurant in this location in the middle of a residential area with a lot of children is appropriate.
“This risk of giving out a license for selling alcohol will create a public nuisance when guests are in the restaurant until 11pm and drinking alcohol.
“These guests will need to travel from the restaurant to their destination meaning they will be out on the street I have two daughters who are both in their A-levels and need their rest, as I do having a job with a significant amount of responsibility.”
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Meanwhile, Miss R Watson raised fears that the restaurant would attract rats.
In an objection, she wrote: “The advertised late opening hours go way beyond what should be allowed for a business on a residential street, especially one would be having customers visit until late at night, with the inherent noise and disturbance this will create.
“Having a food business in a location so close to its attached neighbouring terraced residential properties is inappropriate for reasons of inadequate
and dangerous food waste storage and disposal facilities, offensive cooking smells and vermin that it will inherently bring to the area.”
The licensing bid has also been opposed by all three Labour Caversham councillors Jan Gavin, Jacopo Lanzoni and Matt Yeo.
In a joint objection to the application, the councillors noted that Pasibrzuszek currently closes at 6pm on Tuesdays and 8pm from Wednesday to Sunday and does not cause a disturbance.
However, they argued the closure at 10-11pm would lead punters to ‘spill out onto the streets’ at 11.30pm, causing a noise disturbance.
There were also concerns about the bright lights currently being used at Pasibrzuszek disturbing neighbour’s sleep.
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The licensing application for the restaurant is due to be discussed at a council meeting on Thursday, June 15.
It is understood one of the Caversham councillors is expected to speak at the licensing applications sub-committee meeting.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has reached out to Pasibrzuszek by calling the restaurant and messaging the applicant Monika Maria Michalowska.
A man said he does not speak English in a phone conversation.
Pasibrzuszek’s branding shows a comic man with a cooking pot which can be seen from the Hemdean Road junction with Oxford Street.
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