Tuesday 24 July 2012

Mansion House - Oakham Splits The Difference

Oakham finally got their licence for The Mansion House on Kennington Park Road, but they had to concede some of their original application wish list during the licensing sub-committee hearing, and there's a high level of assurance being loaded on the operator in order to assuage residents.

Local middle-class busybodies, The Kennington Association (KA), presented evidence indicating the late licence was out of step with all other local pubs and bars, and it transpired that there is no proper licence for street drinking or dining, meaning the outside dining/drinking and accompanying music has gone. Oaka didn't contest the assertion that street drinkers from Vauxhall were migrating to Kennington as a result of street clean-up work in the former neighbourhood, so stringent controls on late-night access and noise are also a part of their licence.

The biggest cause of uproar, the proposed opening hours, have been constrained to those in force the last time the pub was licensed, in 2008. So, from Sunday to Wednesday the pub will have to close at 12.30am, and they'll get an hour extra at weekends, to 1.30am.

There are some other snippets of info about the new place. This made me grin...
Off sales of alcohol were being sought in order that sealed 3-4 pint jugs of real ales could be sold to members of Camra
So, if there's any street drinking problems around Kennington Park Road, it'll be down to Kevin. At least, according to the KA. I wonder if buyers will have to produce their membership card to get a jug?

Sadly, the pub will be family-friendly, so I expect there'll be occasions when the place is filled with the grizzling of brats off the leash. I remember The Florence hosting a yummy mummies' coffee morning during one visit. Strollers and buggies in a pub is just wrong.

Apparently the refurb is almost complete, though you'd never know it from the outside, so at last, a decent destination pub in Kennington.

The full minutes of the meeting are here.

11 comments:

Curmudgeon said...

"from Sunday to Wednesday the pub will have to close at 12.30am, and they'll get an hour extra at weekends, to 1.30am."

Hmm, sounds like pretty generous hours to me, but obviously the norm differs between areas. The three "beer" pubs in Stockport all officially shut at 11 every night (maybe even 10.30 on Sundays).

Sid Boggle said...

I've been puzzled about why they wanted such late hours all the way through this. Kennington, despite being so close to central London, doesn't have that vibe at all, and while it'll no doubt be a destination pub for beer geeks (specially with Brixton getting a Craft to go with the Crown & Anchor), they don't hang out 'til the wee hours.

The Antic-operated Old Red Lion is right next door, and they have a weekend late licence to midnight, and 11pm during the rest of the week. The manager there told me a while back that he'd be happy for his neighbour to have later opening, since it would make chucking out a bit easier.

JonR said...

"Sadly, the pub will be family-friendly...Strollers and buggies in a pub is just wrong."

piss off with that, eh? some of us can only get to the pub in the afternoon with a kid or three in tow, and god knows we need it as much as anyone. a pub is a public house and if you don't like that, perhaps you should drink in a private one (e.g. your own).

Sid Boggle said...

Jon: My mates can tell me to piss off. You? Troll on and do one. If you can't bear to see an contrary opinion expressed on the interwebz without getting all aggressive, maybe you should trade in your computer for an etch-a-sketch.

JonR said...

Genuinely sorry if I misjudged the tone around here with my moderately industrial language, Sid. But I really dislike this puritanical notion, popular amongst the childless and abundantly leisured, that adults are supposed to live some sort of cloistered existence for the first sixteen years of their children's' lives. The pejorative phrase "yummy mummy" is particularly dubious, hinting as it does at a Dacre-esque view that a woman ought to be either a parent or a confident participant in adult life, but not both.

If you're busy enjoying a pint then I'll make sure my kids don't bother you (as any half decent parent would). But next time you hear the grizzling of a brat in a beer garden it would be nice if you bear in mind that somewhere in the background is also a harassed (and maybe even embarrassed) parent, desperately trying to relax and enjoy just the same pursuit that you are.

Curmudgeon said...

Is it good parenting to take your kids out to the pub for you to have a drink, an activity that by definition they have no interest in? No wonder they get bored and cause a racket.

JonR said...

"Is it good parenting to take your kids out to the pub for you to have a drink, an activity that by definition they have no interest in? No wonder they get bored and cause a racket."

yeah but they don't. this is just another judgemental and chuckleheaded truism of the sort perpetuated by socially conservative backseat drivers. it doesn't wash and it makes for inane discourse.

as it happens, my brats are invariably delighted when we tell them we're off to the pub, as it usually means a sunny garden, something nice to eat, and the company of some different adults and children. it's how i was raised, it's how i'm raising them, i consider it good parenting and i'm proud of it.

Sid Boggle said...

Jon, enuff already. I don't mind a conversation in the comments, but I don't want those ad hominem inferences littering the replies. You seem to be able to make your point without name-calling.

JonR said...

the quality of my parenting was called into doubt so i responded in kind, is all. besides, "kids in pubs eh....bad parenting....bored and noisy" IS an awful truism that DOES betray a socially conservative desire to meddle in the parenting of others.

if i sound a bit cross about it well, that's what cross people sound like when you make them cross. but it doesn't invalidate what they say. it would be good if someone actually addressed the things i'm saying about families in pubs, instead of evading them with tone arguments (which is a really lousy way to shut people up).

Sid Boggle said...

Fair enough, but don't troll blogs looking for arguments. Write your own if this issue matters that much to you. It's a passing matter for me, but for the record pubs have a better atmos without kids. I don't want to debate your point here any more - Oakham are giving Kennington something it has never had, and I'm excited about that.

JonR said...

fine, i'll leave your blog alone. i don't even know what a sim bogglin is anyway