Nero Lounge restaurant in Rainham granted premises licence

A restaurant in Rainham has been granted a licence to serve alcohol on the premises, subject to conditions.

Nero Lounge, to be located on the ground floor of a new commercial property in Halewood Way, received approval for a premises licence by Havering Council’s licencing sub-committee at a meeting held yesterday (June 13).

The owner, Nerijus Sartauskas, applied for the licence on April 19 this year to carry out activities like playing live and recorded music, providing light refreshments and the supply and consumption of alcohol.

The application form said the venue “will operate as a bona fide restaurant with service by dine in, customer collection and home deliveries”.

But alcohol will only be served from 11am on all days and will be stopped 30 minutes before the premises shuts.

Six representations were received by the council objecting to the licence.

A majority of them were from residents of Newport House, a new apartment block built above the restaurant.  

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A letter claimed that the “newly developed residential area primarily caters to young families” and the licence, if granted, “would inevitably change the character of the area for the worse”.

It added that people did not purchase the property at Newport House, “with an expectation of having a bar operating beneath them” and that they will be significantly impacted by it.

The residents complained that the licence could lead to a rise in anti-social behaviour in the area and could lead to “noise pollution” from live music.

Graham Hopkins, the applicant’s agent, told the sub-committee that the restaurant owner has taken measures to contain the noise.

He said the place will be adequately insulated and the doors and windows will be kept shut at most times.

He added: “Residents also mentioned mess but customers will not be allowed to take drinks, bottles of glass outside. So we are not going to have glassware or tin cans floating around.”

He claimed the restaurant is meant for families to “have a good time” and would be an “asset to the community as people would not have to go a long way to find a restaurant”.

Other steps like installing CCTV cameras and limiting the number of people in the smoking area to six were proposed to prevent anti-social behaviour.

No representations were made by any of the local authorities objecting to the licence.

Cllr Natasha Summers, who chaired the meeting, said the conditions attached to the approval will be sent to the owner.