Bearwood Brewing Gains Outdoor Alcohol Licence!

Bearwood Brewing in Wokingham opened last September and specialises in New England ales and IPAs. The independent craft brewery was started by friends John Willatts, Max Baylis, Peter Rhodes and Christian Cummins and has a taproom overlooking the brewhouse at Unit 11, Anglo Industrial Park.

After an initial licence allowing inside sales only, the brewery applied to sell alcohol outside and was granted permission ahead of its first anniversary, so customers can now drink in an outdoor seating area.

Mr Rhoades said: "We can confirm we are fully licensed to have seating outside of our venue. We have seating during our outside operating hours from Wednesday through to Sunday. The taproom offers a variety of events, including comedy nights, quizzes and live music, as well as hosting varying food vans and even brewery tours. Please visit our website for more information, follow our what's on interaction, or to buy beer online on our website."

The council's highways department had objected, warning of parking shortfalls and safety risks. The objection by Jennifer Pang states: "Highways are concerned with the significant shortfall of off-street parking of the site, resulting in overspilling of parked vehicles onto Fishponds Road and Oaklands Park. Customers might be forced to park in unsafe locations blocking pavements,
visibility splays, turning heads or access for emergency vehicles. Meanwhile, the site is situated within an industrial area, where significant increases in on-street parking demand are undesirable due to the need to maintain suitable passing space for HGVS and ensure pedestrian pathways are unobstructed, to separate pedestrians from HGVs."

That objection was withdrawn after discussions and the council meeting was cancelled because no one else made a representation.

Bearwood will mark its first anniversary with events from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 September. The brewery's website says: "One year on from releasing our very first beer, we're celebrating with our biggest weekend yet."

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter