Fields Cafe can now sell alcohol until 6pm on weekdays and 8pm at weekends. Councillors granted the licence on 26 August with four conditions, including Challenge 25 and staff supervising outdoor drinkers.
The cafe in Ladywell Fields can sell alcohol from now on. Lewisham’s Licensing Sub-Committee D granted Park Cafe SE13 Ltd a premises licence for Fields Cafe on Wednesday 26 August, the printed decision confirms.
The hours are exactly what was applied for, and they double as the cafe’s opening hours:
- 12:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday
- 12:00 to 20:00, Saturday and Sunday
Alcohol can be sold for drinking on the premises or to take away. We reported the application, and the single objection to it, before the hearing.
What the applicant told councillors
Joel Falconer spoke for the applicant. According to the decision record he told the sub-committee that:
- the cafe “was not a drinking establishment” and alcohol would be “an adjunct to food”
- he had run other licensed premises in Ladywell, and temporary event notices at the cafe over the summer, without problems
- drinks would be served at outdoor tables, with the intention of moving drinking into “the recently enclosed courtyard at the side of the cafe”
- the safer neighbourhood team had been supportive, and a busy cafe was “a deterrent to anti-social behaviour in the park”
The resident who objected, on the grounds of public nuisance and the protection of children, did not attend. The licensing officer confirmed the application had been amended to an 8pm terminal hour at weekends.
The four conditions
The licensing authority had lodged its own representation, then withdrew it when the applicant accepted a rewritten set of conditions. Those agreed conditions now sit on the licence:
- Challenge 25. Only photographic ID such as a passport, driving licence or a PASS card is acceptable, with signage displayed.
- A refusals log. Every refused alcohol sale is recorded with the date, time and the staff member’s name, and the log is open to police and council officers whenever the cafe is open.
- Litter. The licence holder must stop litter and waste from customers building up immediately outside.
- Outdoor supervision. Anyone drinking or smoking outside must be supervised by staff “so as to ensure that there is no public nuisance or obstruction of the public highway”.
Why it was granted
The sub-committee’s reasons run to four points. The hours are “modest and do not extend late into the evening”; alcohol will be ancillary to food, tea and coffee; the summer’s temporary event notices had drawn no complaints; and no responsible authority, including the police, had an outstanding objection. It also noted, as a warning, that any person can ask for the licence to be reviewed if the conditions are not kept.
The officer report had earlier admitted the council itself got the process wrong at the start: the application “was not initially advertised in accordance with regulation 25”, so the consultation was extended from 30 July to 3 August.
What it means for you
- A drink in the park is now legal at the cafe, but not late. Sales stop at 6pm on weekdays and 8pm at weekends. The park’s other rules, including the borough’s public space protection order, are unchanged.
- If you object to how it operates, the route is a licence review, made to the council’s licensing team, rather than a complaint to the cafe.
- There is a 21-day window to appeal the decision to the magistrates’ court, counted from the day the applicant was notified. The decision notice tells anyone considering an appeal to take independent legal advice rather than ask council officers.
Ladywell Fields is between Ladywell Road and Catford, alongside the River Ravensbourne. The site is off Ladywell Road, SE13 7XA, a few minutes from Ladywell station; our train times page has the services.
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