Appeal 6003262

The appeal is allowed and the planning permission [name]/2025/01071 for change of use from vacant car parts shop to a bar ([name]) including the installation of a new shopfront, and alterations to the window and door openings including the installation of 1no. ground floor window to the side elevation and 1no. door to the rear elevation at [site address] , Litherland, Liverpool [postcode] granted on 20 November 2025 by Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, is varied by deleting condition 6 and replacing it with the following condition: The premises shall not be open for business outside the hours of 12:00 to 22:00 on Sundays to Thursdays (including [name] which fall on those days), and 12:00 to 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

The appellant applied for permission to change the premises to a bar, with daily opening hours of 12:00 to 23:00. The Council’s planning committee resolved to approve the application, but imposed an earlier closing time of 22:00. The appellant now wishes to vary the opening hours (condition 6) to allow the bar to remain open until 23:00. No changes to any other conditions are sought.

The main issue is the effect of extending the opening hours to 23:00 on the living conditions of nearby residents.

The appeal site is located at the end of a short parade of shops and commercial premises. The approved development involves bringing a vacant unit back into use, and consultation at both application and appeal stages prompted representations of support. However, this is a residential area with a fairly high density of housing. The new bar, which was under construction at the time of my visit, will be close to people’s homes, and local residents have also raised concerns about the potential for noise and disturbance.

In order to limit such impacts, and following comments from the Environmental Health Officer, the Council imposed a number of conditions when granting planning permission. As well as limiting opening hours and requiring details of the proposed cellar chilling unit, conditions require that windows and doors be kept closed after 21:00 hours, with restrictions on sound levels from music or entertainment within the premises. Alongside management measures to control noise associated with outdoor drinking and smoking (required by condition 5), the conditions should provide effective mechanisms to limit noise and disturbance associated with use of the building and its outside spaces.

However, the new bar will inevitably result in additional evening activity in the area, despite its modest size. This could include noise from vehicle movements and loud conversations beyond the premises, which could not be fully controlled through signage and other management measures. Other businesses in the parade are open late into the evening, but activity associated with the new bar use would be different, with greater potential for people to linger, as opposed to making quick visits to a shop.

The appeal site is in an area of housing which is suitable for people of all ages, including families. Allowing the bar to open until 23:00 seven nights per week could result in daily disturbance at a time when many people are likely to be settling down to sleep.

Later opening every day would be unneighbourly here, but during the appeal, the appellant has proposed that the 23:00 opening be limited to Friday and Saturdays only. This would limit the potential for late night disturbance on most nights of the week, whilst allowing for slightly longer opening on Fridays and Saturdays. On these two days at the end of the working week, additional evening activity is more likely to be accepted and tolerated by local residents.

I consider this approach to be proportionate, taking account of the management controls already required through other conditions, the expressions of support for the facility, and the potential for the Council to use licencing restrictions if ongoing problems were to arise. The later opening on Fridays and Saturdays would enable the business to compete more effectively, with benefits for its viability.

Overall, I am satisfied that extending the opening hours until 23:00 hours on Fridays and Saturdays only would not cause unacceptable harm to the living conditions of local residents. With the revised condition, the development would still comply with Policies EQ4, EQ10 and HC3 of the Local Plan for Sefton (2107), which together seek to protect amenity, including from the impacts of food and drink establishments, and other non-residential developments in primarily residential areas.

Condition 6 should be varied as set out above. The other conditions are all reasonable and necessary to make the proposal acceptable in planning terms, and should remain.

For the reasons set out above, I have allowed the appeal. Condition 6 of planning permission [name]/2025/01071 is deleted and replaced with a new condition which allows for opening until 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays only, with opening until 22:00 on all other evenings.