A bid to sell alcohol at a Brazilian café in Reading has been granted despite concerns over disturbance and parking problems.
A bid to sell alcohol at Minas cafe in Buckland Road, Reading, has been granted despite neighbours raising concerns about disturbance, parking and litter.
The Brazilian café sits opposite Morrisons and Aldi at the Oldfield Retail Park and serves English breakfasts, paninis and Brazilian-style dishes such as cheesy tapiocas and savoury pastries. The business changed hands in September and new owner Jean Michel Parisotto wanted to keep it open later as a bar.
Mr Parisotto applied to sell alcohol from 9am to 11pm each night, with the premises to close 30 minutes after that.
Two nearby residents protested. Janet Withers, from Buckland Road, Whitley, wrote: “I live very close to the establishment, and as an older disabled resident, I am already significantly affected by the ongoing problems caused by this business.
“Customers and delivery drivers frequently park illegally or block my driveway, which makes it extremely difficult for me to attend important medical and personal appointments.
“There is also a persistent issue with litter and waste coming from the café, much of which ends up in my garden area.
“This suggests that rubbish is not being disposed of properly or responsibly.”
Margaret Hunter echoed these concerns and warned alcohol sales would make things worse: “Introducing alcohol sales in such a setting would likely increase noise levels, anti-social behaviour, and traffic congestion, further impacting the peace and safety of nearby residents.
“The site is already a problematic choice for a café, and turning it into a licensed premises would be entirely unsuitable for the area.”
The licensing application went to a council meeting. Manuel Rocha, a licensing representative, said: “With previous owners, there were issues with noise and motorbikes; this has been solved. These issues have been solved, so what is the problem? We want to progress, as this is good for the area. We do what we can do, and we want to be successful. If neighbours have issues, they can say and acted upon.”
Councillor Amjad Tarar noted the representations made in November. To that point, Mr Parisotto replied: “When I saw the complaints about the parking, straight away, the next day, I added signs. We try our best to stop people parking there.”
The owner has also moved bins to tackle rubbish ending up in gardens, and customers can use the Morrisons and Aldi car parks on Basingstoke Road. One neighbour had believed alcohol was already being sold; at the meeting it was clarified alcohol had been sold at one-off events using Temporary Event Notices (TENs), which can allow draught sales until the notice expires.
Ultimately the licence to sell alcohol was granted by the licensing applications sub-committee today (Tuesday, December 23). The decision was made by councillors Amjad Tarar, Paul Woodward and Deborah Edwards.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
