Plans revealed for new Scandinavian style coffee lounge that will 'add to the diversity of the eating and drinking scene'

The applicant is seeking a licence to permit regulated entertainment and the retail sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises, at Fika Coffee Lounge on Bawtry Road.

The applicants say the coffee lounge would provide food and refreshments, serving alcohol with meals, and will not operate exclusively as a bar. The premises are currently vacant, and permission was granted in 2020 for a restaurant/cafe.

The license would allow the applicants to sell alcohol on the premises from 11:00am to 11pm seven days a week, and play live and recorded music from 8am to 11pm.

It is within the Wickersley cumulative impact zone, which limits the number of alcohol licences granted, in a bid to crack down on issues created by bars and pubs in the area.

Wickersley Parish Council sumbited a writen representaion to the council’s licensing department, stating they believed it would “only be acceptable to grant a license for these premises if they operate solely as a cafe/restaurant with alcohol served only to those seated and ancillary to a meal”.

One resident wrote in support of the application, stating that Fika Coffee Lounge will “add to the diversity of Wickersley’s eating and drinking scene”, adding that “the applicants seek to run what is in effect Starbuckswith the addition of music and cocktails”, and “there is no apparent reason why such an establishment would attract crime or disorder.”

The letter adds: “There is a certain ‘buzz’ about the village centre nowadays, which has arisen as Wickersley has transformed from a place where people just undertook chore activities to one in which they also socialise, and the eating and drinking establishments have been vital to this progress.”

RMBC’s licensing board sub-commitee will decide the application at their next meeting on September 6.