Hi Fides, Gordon and everyone
Thanks for your responses.
I wouldn’t for a minute suggest that anyone is being aspoilsport for holding
differing views on this. I completely understand thatwithin this very mixed
community there will be different views and I fully appreciatethat other people
have very legitimate and understandable concerns about this.
However, I do think that it’s important for those differingviews to be aired
and I also think that the thorny issues at the heart of thesediscussions should
be placed into their context.
Whether the inequities are historical or not, it isdifficult for me to see how
Nonna’s is different to Lost & Found. It isinteresting, I think, that the big
chains have indeed been successful inacquiring/achieving longer licensing hours
– L&F is owned by Marstons,Lescar and Nursery owned by Mitchell & Butlers, all
have later opening. Ialso don’t see how Porter Cottage (part of a smaller
chain) can open until 1ambut Nonna’s can’t. And I say this as someone who has
no particular love of Nonnashaving visited about 3 times, if that, in the last
18 months, but regard thePorter Cottage as my all-time favourite pub as it has
been since I first wentin it nearly 30 years ago!
As for noise, I have lived in my current house on BroccoBank since 2005 and can
honestly say (as the lightest sleeper in our house)that I get disturbed perhaps
once or twice a year by revellers drunkenly andnoisily making their way up the
road in the wee small hours. Curiously, this usuallydoes seem to happen around
the time of year that A-level results come out… Ican be fairly sure that the
revellers in question will not have been inNonna’s. In truth we get far more
noise disturbance from fellow residents.
As for my comments about Sharrow Vale Market being heldyesterday and the
viability of businesses on Eccy Road, while I think themarket is great and I
sympathise with anyone struggling to make a living at themoment, for me there
is no contradiction. The market happens 3 times a year,but if a business on
Ecclesall Road fails then I (and everyone else) will haveto see an empty unit
deteriorating for months, if not years (see the HealthFood shop).
Then there’s the loss of day-to-day economic activity in thecommunity. Nonna’s
planning application forms suggest that they permanently employbetween 30 and
35 people. Like all pubs, bars and restaurants due to COVIDtheir capacity is
down enormously (Nonna’s is down by 50% according to theirapplication) which
inevitably means that income will follow suit, which I wouldsuggest, will
almost certainly impact on the numbers permanently employed. And atthis moment
in time, there’s no end in sight for that. Contrasting that with amarketstall
which, I would guess having never run one, is quite light onpermanent staffing.
Additionally, if we have managed to avoid further spikesand lockdowns and the
Christmas market goes ahead, the traders will have onlylost one opportunity, in
Sharrow Vale at least, to operate.
So in summary, for me it comes down to fairness and a desireto see our local
institutions thrive. I personally don’t see how being able toserve until
12.30am on Fridays and Saturdays will hugely impact on the area –here or nearer
the venue. Personally, if we want to go out for a meal and adrink on a Friday
night we’ll go down to Kelham Island, having got home fromwork put the youngest
kids to bed etc it’s often past 9pm before we can getout. If I can stay around
here instead, that might, in itself, result in onefewer taxi door occasionally
banging in this area at 1am!
Take care all.
Best Scott
On Monday, 31 August 2020, 14:48:54 BST, Gordon Ferguson
<gordon.ferguson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Scott,
Interesting juxtaposition: What is the difference between the viability of
the businesses running market stalls - which should not have been allowed to
trade on Sunday - and the viability of businesses on Ecclesall Road?
Yes there are exceptions to the 11.30pm closing 'curfew' on Ecclesall Road,
but these are mainly due to historical planning anomalies, such as the fact
that Lost and Found inherited the licence to operate as a 'club'.
My take on this is that these exceptions should remain so - and obviously so
- and contrary to the drive from government, I would like to see planning law
tightened to remove these 'anomalies' that businesses are so ready to exploit
in order to make a quick buck at the expense of local communities.
Gordon
On 30/08/2020 22:27, Scott Royal (Redacted sender scottsroyal for DMARC)
wrote:
Well it's nice to not be in a minority of one for once!
I don't support an ECCO response, because I fully support Nonnas and any
other business along Ecclesall Road which wants longer opening hours at the
weekend.
I've always found it odd that I can stay in Lost & Found across the road
until 1am on a Friday and Saturday night or the Porter Cottage until 1am, or
the Lescar until midnight or The Nursery until 1am or Kettle Black until 2am,
but can't support a local independently owned business in the same way.
I also find it incredible (and infuriating) that I can't get a kebab in Elifs
after midnight!
Personally I'll be writing in support. I am seriously concerned that we're
facing an existential crisis for a number of our favourite eateries and bars
once the government ends furlough and mass redundancies sadly happen. All bars
and restaurants nationally currently have seriously restricted numbers of
customers at any one time and we have no end in sight to COVID at this time. I
just don't see how livings can be made, long term in these circumstances.
I have no problem with a local business having a few more hours a couple of
days per weekend, in line with nearby competitors owned by large chains, in
order to keep their doors open. For me, the vibrancy of Ecclesall Road is an
important reason for living here.
Regards
Scott
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
On Sun, 30 Aug 2020 at 19:17, ramen fides <ramenandfides@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
We both support an ECCO comment. Ramen & Fides
On Sun, 30 Aug 2020, 13:51 Mike and Jan Andrews, <botanic88@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hi all
So far six households seem to support ECCO making a comment on this planning
application. However, one other household would like Nonnas to stay open later.
They think ECCO should not comment as an organisation.
I suggest that we ask all our members (including those not subscribed to
ECCOtalk) what they would prefer. Then we should only comment as an
organisation if many more households agree than disagree. Perhaps we need at
least two thirds of those expressing an opinion to agree.
If ECCO chooses to comment as an organisation then I would prefer to focus on
the core point. Then people who want to comment on other points can do so
individually. This would result in a wide variety of comments being sent to the
Planning Authority.
I suggest that the core point is that we like Ecclesall Road having a
thriving restaurant and bar scene but it should take account of our mixed
residential area in which there are many households with young children and
ones with elderly people as well.
The compromise whereby restaurants and bars close at 11.00 or 11.30 PM and
close their terraces at 9.00 or 9.30 PM has been accepted by the Planning
Authority for many years and we don't think it should be changed now.
Mike Andrews
