Mediterranean restaurant chain set for Cardiff

A MEDITERRANEAN restaurant and bar chain looks set to open in Cardiff after a licensing application was given the green light.

Cardiff Council approved an application by Various Eateries Trading Limited, the London-based company behind Coppa Club – for a premises licence at 18, The Hayes in the city centre.

The licence will allow the sale of alcohol at a new Coppa Club restaurant in Cardiff between 9am and 11pm from Sunday to Thursday. The premises will be open between 9am and midnight from Sunday to Thursday.

From Friday to Saturday, the sale of alcohol will be allowed at the restaurant until midnight. The premises will stay open until half past midnight on these two days.

Initially, the intention of the applicant was for the sale of alcohol to continue until midnight from Monday to Sunday.

However, a number of residents living on the upper floors of the property raised concerns about potential excess noise coming from the restaurant late at night during the week.

Other concerns from residents in the apartments above the proposed restaurant include potential disruption during the early hours of the morning due to the delivery of supplies and the transportation of waste.

The possible location of a future smoking area was also raised as a concern. However, there are no details relating to a smoking area in the application.

Representing the David Morgan Apartments residents on The Hayes, resident Dougald Robertson said: “I think it is fair to say that we very much welcome the application from Coppa.”

However, he added that he and the majority of residents in the apartments still had a number of concerns on a “nuanced level”.

There are already a number of Coppa Club restaurants and bars across the south of England, including in cities like London and Bristol.

This will be the first Coppa Club that opens in Wales.

Thomas O’Maoileoin of Thomas and Thomas Partners, representing the applicants at the meeting, said the restaurant would have “much more conservative” hours in comparison to establishments across the street.

He added that the applicant can “act in a very neighbourly way” with residents and that secondary glazing has been offered to Mr Robertson as a way of mitigating any potential excess noise.

Mr O’Maoileoin said the applicant has put forward a proposal “which is sensible and reasonable” and that granting permission would not “give rise to the concerns outlined”.

He added that the applicant is confident that the type of “demographic that we are attracting here is no different from the demographic that we are experiencing in other [Coppa] sites”.