An appeal has been lodged after council officers blocked a restaurant’s bid to open until midnight.
Mediterranean eatery La Banq, which opened in December 2022, applied to vary the planning permission conditions for its Abbots Langley High Street location by extending the operating hours in November last year.
This bid was rejected by Three Rivers District Council a month later, before the appeal was entered last week.
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The restaurant, which sometimes hosts live music, claims that like many businesses it is facing unforeseen cost increases which it cannot reflect in its menu prices without losing business.
Management therefore wants to move from closing at 11pm every night to 12pm on Fridays and Saturdays, as a way to bring in extra income so that it can continue to operate without making any staff redundancies and taking any other difficult actions.
It was suggested that being unable to extend its hours could lead to the business having to close, although council officers remarked that “no financial evidence has been provided to substantiate these claims”.
The official decision notice said that the change “would lead to unacceptable levels of noise and disturbance to nearby residential properties late at night when background levels are at their lowest, to the detriment of their living conditions”.
Four objections (from two separate addresses) and two letters in support from High Street neighbours and businesses were submitted during the consultation period before the decision was made.
The supporting comments described it as a “fantastic restaurant” and a “smart, well-run establishment” and a letter added that the “slight extension” would be a bonus for Abbots Langley.
La Banq took over the former Barclays bank in the village in 2022. (Image: Google Street View)
One dissatisfied neighbour agreed that it is a “really good, new and respected business” but claimed “it must respect its neighbours to the same degree”.
They said that the level of noise in the evenings under the existing hours upsets them and added that they have had to call La Banq to ask them to turn “pounding” music down in the past.
Another said that noise from customers outside the location late at night already makes it difficult for their two young children to sleep.
The applicant has said it considers a written representation procedure suitable for a decision to be made. The planning inspectorate will now consider the appeal bid.
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