New micropub gets licence

A new micropub will now be able to open in Worcester after it was awarded an alcohol licence by the council.

Plans to open a new Ale Hub micropub in Abbotsbury Court off St Peter’s Drive have passed the final hurdle following a successful licensing hearing on Thursday.

The proposals were given the thumbs up by Worcester City Council planners earlier this month.

Some concerns were raised by St Peter’s parish councillor Roger Knight about the possibility of a new micropub in the area and he had called for bouncers to be on duty and a ban on outdoor drinking and music if the council wants to award the new watering hole a licence.

At the meeting at the Guildhall, Cllr Knight, speaking as chairman of St Peter’s Village Hall Association, said he was not against the idea of a micropub opening and his concerns were “historical.”

“We are not against this proposal,” he said.

“It’s a lovely idea and it will be very nice, after a long and boring meeting in the parish council, to be able to walk out and have a beer just across the other side of the walkway.

Cllr Knight said there had been a history of anti-social behaviour and littering in the area around Abbotsbury Court and the nearby play area, including beer cans and drug paraphernalia being littered, and he feared a new pub would make the problems worse.

“There are advantages to this,” he added.

“Our concerns really are historical and that is that the immediate area has had a problem of anti-social behaviour and the more things that are put there, in the way of attractions, the more problems we seem to generate.

“We’ve raised these concerns not to be obstructive but to try to be constructive in that we don’t want to regenerate the problems that we think we have overcome.”

The proposed opening hours are midday to 11pm every day and four jobs would be created.

Despite the anti-social behaviour concerns, the plans were largely welcomed by residents in St Peter’s with many commenting that it would be a welcome addition to the area.