Sheffield councillor tries to block e-sports bar’s expansion over noise nuisance concerns

Meltdown E-Sports Bar, at 39-41 Lower Floor Snig Hill, asked to vary its premises licence to increase capacity from 150 to 250 with the addition of a former smoking area.

But City ward councillor Douglas Johnson and two neighbouring residents objected over fears about disturbance.

It comes after a former drum and bass nightclub – Bassbox – which was directly above Meltdown was shut down by the council following extreme noise issues among other problems including drugs and dogs.

Neal Pates, of the environmental protection service, said: “We haven’t had similar issues associated with Meltdown and, in fact, the applicant Matthew Collinson was very helpful in resolving the issues at Bassbox and his representation at the hearing really helped to convince the committee of the severity of the issues at Bassbox.

“The outside area in question is the same area as was used by Bassbox, but Meltdown don’t trade late, and they don’t play loud music. Nevertheless, I was mindful that the area is evidenced to be noise sensitive. Matthew was happy to agree a couple of conditions to mitigate noise from the area, which included a 2300 hours curfew, and a reduced capacity for the area after 2100 hours.”

The council’s licensing sub-committee is due to make a decision on Monday, October 31.

The meeting will take place from 10am, the full agenda and link to the live webcast can be found here: https://democracy.sheffield.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=155&MId=8520