Fire safety fears raised over Wolverhampton bar plans
Fire hazard fears have been raised over a new Wolverhampton bar-restaurant.
Council bosses will review the premises licence for the First Class Lounge, which occupies a two-storey unit in the city centre.
West Midlands Fire Service has already carried out an inspection of the premises and highlighted a number of safety fears.
Police, environmental and public health officers have also chipped in with concerns.
The building on School Street, formerly home to Catellani’s Restaurant, had its application deferred due to ongoing concerns
In a letter to the council, fire safety officer Neil Aston-Baugh said: “The fire alarm is faulty, there is insufficient emergency lighting in some areas, the rear fire exit was blocked and impassable at the time of the inspection, the plastic wall panels on the first floor are a fire hazard and the proposed safe numbers of 220 patrons appears to be inadequately calculated which may lead to overcrowding.”
Applicant Mr Erastus Ndi is looking to open the venue predominantly as a restaurant during the week and as a nightclub on Friday and Saturday evenings.
He also hopes to provide live and recorded music, late night refreshments and the sale of alcohol on the premises.
The First Class Lounge is located within one of the city’s designated ‘Cumulative Impact Zones’ (CIZ), which means the surrounding area already has a high concentration of licensed premises.
Council chiefs say this puts it in a higher risk category in terms of upholding the four required licensing objectives.
Council bosses also heard concerns from environmental health officers that the venue hadn’t made clear how they would deal with noise and outside crowds.
Sergeant Steph Reynolds, from West Midlands Police’s Licensing Partnerships Team, had earlier raised concerns over the requested licensing hours for Sunday to Thursday.
Licensing consultant Paul Jones from Innpacked, acting on behalf of the First Class Lounge, said his client had agreed to a reduction in the hours applied for and had also submitted a list of amendments to the proposed application.
Wolverhampton Council’s Statutory Licence Sub-Committee will discuss the application during an online meeting on Monday, July 29.
