Mystery surrounds the future of a bar in Leyland after it was formally given the go-ahead to open – having seemingly already closed.
Rum Jack’s – at the junction of Towngate and Malden Street – is understood to have begun trading in September last year.
The venture – billed as ‘Leyland’s first Irish Bar’ – replaced Fat Sam’s restaurant, but a recent meeting of South Ribble Borough Council’s planning committee heard permission had not been sought for the conversion.
Councillors have now granted the necessary approval – but committee chair Caleb Tomlinson noted during the debate that the business appeared to be shut whenever he passed by.
Phil Kirby, the applicant who requested the retrospective permission to run the venue as a bar rather than a restaurant, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was no longer involved with it – but that he believed someone else was “taking over”. The Rum Jack’s Leyand Facebook page was last updated in mid-February.
In the wake of the unauthorised conversion, the owner of the property – who was not named at the meeting – was issued with a noise abatement notice after complaints from nearby residents. The bar was opening as late as 1am on Fridays and Saturdays, in spite of the planning permission in place for the restaurant requiring that it shut by 10pm.
Live and amplified music was also banned in the eatery – but that regulation appeared to have been breached by the bar, according to a report presented to committee members.
Council planning case officer Debbie Roberts said the operators of the venue could perhaps be given “the benefit of the doubt”, as they did have a premises licence that covered the bar’s operation – and may have assumed further planning approval was not necessary. She added that the business was based in an area that the council promotes for commercial activity.
The application drew six objections from members of the public, whose concerns included noise and claims of anti-social behaviour. Broadfield ward councillor Matthew Tomlinson also registered his opposition to the plans.
The conversion to a bar was, however, recommended for approval by South Ribble’s planning department after environmental health officers offered no objection – provided a series of conditions were put in place to reduce any noise.
Committee member Mary Green said there was “a world of difference between a restaurant and an Irish bar”.
“Irish bars can tend to get excitable [and] noisy,” she added.
When fellow committee member Phil Smith said he was sure the council would “keep an eye” on the operation of the business from now on, he was interrupted by a resident in the public gallery who said: “I suggest you come to Towngate at 1am on [a] Saturday.”
Ultimately, the committee voted unanimously to approve the conversion – paving the way for any future operator to run the premises as a bar. However, members ordered that the permission be granted only for an initial 12 months before being reassessed.
The conditions attached to the approval include a requirement for live and recorded music to be played through a “sound limiting device”.
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