Neighbours not happy about ‘hell-raising’ Brewdog bar opening in Stoke Newington
The venue in Stoke Newington Road. Picture: Ewan Munro (CC BY-SA 2.0) - Credit: Archant
Neighbours are not happy about the prospect of a hip brewery opening a “hell-raising” bar in Stoke Newington – but bosses insist they run venues responsibly.
Scottish beer firm Brewdog has taken over what used to be Birthdays in Stoke Newington Road and has submitted a licensing application to Hackney Council.
But despite the company wanting to reduce the opening hours at weekends and remove live music from the existing licence, some people in the area say it is not welcome.
In objections submitted ahead of a town hall meeting on Tuesday, the Rio Cross Residents’ Association said: “Brewdog is an aggressively promoted national chain that advertises its bars as sites of ‘hell-raising’ and boasts of the high alcohol content of its beers’.
“Far from showing respect for local communities Brewdog seems to be actively seeking to encourage excessive drinking and anti-social behaviour. We are particularly concerned it will attract thrill-seeking young people to Dalston, adding to the cumulative impact of alcohol-related ASB and exacerbating the already intolerable levels of noise and rowdiness.”
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Others have complained the venue, which is inside the Dalston Special Policy Area (SPA), will add to the anti-social behaviour and mess caused by drunk people in the popular drinking destination.
Brewog, which has venues across the UK, wants to change the layout of the venue, open at 11am rather than the current time of midday and close at 2am rather than 2.40am at weekends.
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Customer experience chief Martin Keith said: “Contrary to objections received to our application to vary the licence for our new site in Dalston, we have applied to change the layout of the space, reduce the hours of trade, and remove the licensed provision for live bands.
“We have reached out to the local community and councillors to explain what our bars are all about – awesome craft beer - and that whilst we rebel against the status quo of the beer industry, we manage and operate bars responsibly within communities around London as well as in numerous major cities and towns globally.
“We are excited to join the Dalston bar scene and hope that the local licensing board considers our application on facts and merit.”
