A Cumbrian brewery’s plans to open a new tap room in the heart of the Lake District have cleared a major hurdle.
Lakes Brew Co, based in Kendal, wants to open the new venue in Ambleside early in 2025 in the Old Mill, which is accessed via North Road.
This week, members of the licensing sub-committee for Westmorland and Furness Council granted a variation to the premises licence for the former Giggling Goose.
Lakes Brew Co said it hoped the tap room would open in time for Easter.
It said its hope was to create a vibrant, inclusive, family friendly social space for locals and visitors, blending the modern and traditional parts of the area.
It said it will offer and showcase a range of its own award-winning craft beers, all brewed and packaged at the brewery within 14 miles of the new premises, alongside other new drinks, creating a comprehensive offer to suit all tastes.
For the last two years, Lakes Brew Co has successfully run a pop-up tap space once a month, in the brewery on the Mintsfeet Industrial Estate in Kendal. It said these will still go ahead.
The sub-committee approved the removal of two conditions from the existing premises licence as well as the updated floorplan.
There is no change to the licensed hours of the site, which has a premises licence to serve alcohol from 11am to 11pm every day.
The sub-committee stated: “The reasons for the decision are although the sub-committee had considered the concerns of the Lakes Parish Council that had submitted a written representation, the sub-committee believe the concerns raised did not justify refusal of the application.
“The sub-committee attach weight to the fact none of the responsible authorities made any objections to the application.”
Lakes Parish Council objected to the plans over concerns about noise, disturbance and parking pressures. No representative could attend the meeting, and instead sent a statement and apology for not attending.
It said: “Lakes Parish Council strongly recommends that this application be refused.
“The proposal does not demonstrate sufficient measures to safeguard public safety, prevent public nuisance, or mitigate the risk of crime and disorder.”
On behalf of the applicants, Gill Sherratt, head of licensing at Napthens, told the sub-committee it was highly frustrating the parish council did not attend the meeting.
Ms Sherratt said: “We’ve done everything we can to try and address the points they’ve made.”
She added the points the parish council made related to planning and were not in relation to the application to vary the premises licence.
The company added: “By making a huge investment into the project, the operators are restoring the building, bringing life back to some of the old traditional features and heritage, which have been covered up, neglected or damaged in previous years.
“The Old Mill is steeped in Ambleside history from the old tanning mill to the Ambleside pottery movement and they are working to preserve it for years to come.
“In time, the operators intend to fix the currently dilapidated, broken water wheel and carefully bring the garden back to a glorious centre piece that Ambleside can be proud of.”
