New Brighton Theatre Cafe Granted Midnight Licence

The new Dome Studio Theatre café has been granted a licence to operate until midnight at a historic venue in Brighton’s “cultural quarter”.

Theatre-goers will be able to enjoy a late drink after shows at the refurbished Dome Studio Theatre – formerly the Pavilion Theatre – in New Road after a council licensing panel hearing.

The theatre is nearing the end of a five-year restoration project that included the neighbouring Corn Exchange.

The theatre back in 2016

The new café bar, to be run by Lucky Bean Ltd, can seat 34 customers inside and 118 outside. Those outside would be at tables in New Road or to the south of the building, overlooking the Royal Pavilion Gardens.

Sussex Police and Brighton and Hove City Council licensing officials objected to the licence application by Lucky Bean, which also runs Redroaster, in nearby St James’s Street.

Officials said that the application breached the council’s own licensing policy, especially for the busy centre of Brighton where the rules are aimed at reducing crime and disorder.

Police said that New Road is in the heart of an area that is troubled by street drinkers – and officers dealt with more than 800 incidents within 300 yards of the venue in just one year.

Lucky Bean director Michael Palmer, 51, told the council licensing panel that there would be no bar, with customers expected to sit at a table and order food and drink from waiters.

But he wanted the flexibility of a “café licence” – not a more restrictive “restaurant licence” – so that people leaving shows at neighbouring theatres could enjoy a glass of wine without having to order a full meal.

The site has been leased from the council by the Brighton Dome and Festival Trust which said that it spent a year seeking the right catering partner to operate the café bar.

The Dome’s director of operations Maxine Hort said that Redroaster went through a long process to show that it was the right company to run the café. She added that the venue would not be a pub.

The application received 18 letters of support from neighbouring businesses.

The licensing panel, which was made up of three councillors, Zoe John, Anne Pissaridou and Dee Simson, said that they understood the concerns raised by the police and council officials.

But despite concerns about the “challenging issues” in New Road, there were exceptional circumstances, the panel said.

In a decision letter, the panel said:

“It is within the Dome environment and is their catering partner. This, in the view of the panel, gives a special level of protection and strong oversight by the Dome.

“The hours applied for are less than that of the current Dome licence and, although there are café not restaurant conditions, the panel considers that it is clear this is primarily a food-led operation and is, to great extent, future-proofed by the terms of the lease entered into which stipulate this.

“There are unique features of the application in terms of the applicants themselves whose charity and community activities can be considered exceptional. The amount of supporting representations, including from other businesses, sets this application apart.”

Lucky Bean has agreed to sign up to the Business Crime Reduction Partnership as one of the licensing conditions.

An initial request to be allowed to operate for 24 hours on New Year’s Eve through to New Year’s Day was dropped although the venue could still seek a “temporary” permission.