By Local Democracy Reporter Daniel Esson
A Margate bar has won permission to open until the early hours – despite concerns from the council’s parking team that late-night drinkers would cause a nuisance if allowed to exit through the bar’s back door.
La! in Margate’s High Street has secured approval to extend its closing time from 11pm every night to midnight in the week and 2.30am at weekends.
The parking team had objected to the plans, raising concerns that the back door leads to Market Street car park and using the exit could cause issues.
A parking officer explained: “Leaving that entrance, shuffling through vehicles or just intoxicated at night trying to navigate through the car park, gives us concern because you are leaving a premises straight onto TDC land, which we are responsible and liable for.
“It is the nighttime economy – people are going to be intoxicated.
“If there’s going to be issues with people urinating behind cars or people falling into cars if they’re intoxicated, they might damage a car. We don’t want that to become an issue we have then got to deal with.”
Committee member Cllr Debra Owen-Hughes (Lab) said the suggestion was “offensive.”
Representing La! solicitor Jerome Dillon also stressed “This is an exercise in what might happen – the committee really should be dealing with evidence of these problems if they’ve actually arisen, and so far they haven’t.”
La! was founded after Sundowners – the longstanding LGBT bar in Albert Terrace – closed in October 2024 because of lease issues.
Director Iain Maxstead and manager Gareth Braithwaite of Proud Pink Inns, which ran Sundowners, applied to TDC earlier this year for a new licence, hoping to extend its opening times.
The authority’s licensing sub-committee met on April 9 to make the final call.
Mr Dillon said: “They’re very experienced – Mr Maxstead ran premises in London, and all the time they were at Sundowners there were never any problems.”
He said the High Street premises goes across two floors – the restaurant and bar, Lafayette’s, on the ground floor, and the lounge and bar on the floor below.
Mr Maxstead stressed the bar voluntarily has security staff at the establishment “not because it’s a licence requirement but because we believe in safety for our customers and our community, which is something we’ve always upheld – I’ve certainly done that in the last 38 years in the trade.”
The maximum proposed capacity for the venue is 60 people.
Mr Maxstead said: “Our client base, in principle, is LGBTQIA members – the community locally.
“In general terms, our client base is local and respectful of the fact we have a limited number and they know if they aren’t in the door by 10.30pm they aren’t getting in, so they don’t bother trying.”
There were no objections submitted by neighbours or the public to the licence application.
Cllr Owen-Hughes said: “I think [Mr Maxstead] deserves some help and encouragement to bring business into this town.”
The sub-committee voted to approve the licensing application, subject to the approval of a change of planning conditions on the building, and a condition on the license that security attends the rear exit until closing time and all patrons have left.
TDC will move the goal posts to please themselves, if something gets in the way of planning TDC will brush it aside ,as long as TDC get the CASH , people that it will effect TDC don’t care because it’s not in their back yard ,if it was it wouldn’t go ahead , TDC is happy to turn a blind ear on planning .
How a man who spent years in prison for abducting a 14 year old child even has a license to run a bar is beyond me. As kentonline reported on here https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/total-shock-at-taxi-boss-3864/
as you rightly say , this is so wrong that ” person ” should not be anywhere near the public , but am i right in thinking this bar is for a certain type of clientelle though ?