Entrepreneur bids to set up Caribbean takeaways from his own residential home

By Harrison Galliven, Local Democracy Reporter

A Mitcham flat owner could be given a licence to serve Caribbean takeaway from his residential kitchen.

The “unusual” request will be decided by Merton council, which has raised concerns over noise and a build-up of delivery drivers outside the property.

Merton’s Licensing sub-committee heard yesterday how the flat owner plans to use his kitchen as a commercial space to deliver Caribbean food.

Taste Harmony, the takeaway company, would use Uber Eats to deliver food it has prepared during the day.

Taste Harmony owner Kevin Rutty told the committee how he understood the concern of councillors and residents, admitting his was an “unusual” request.

However, he attempted to reassure committee members that his takeaway service would cause minimal disruption to neighbours.

The committee heard how the kitchen will be used to prepare food from Taste Harmony’s small menu during the day, but once those meals are prepared no other cooking will take place. Food will only be reheated throughout the night and there will be no room for the public to eat in.

Rutty told the committee how this arrangement would limit the risk of “cooking smells” throughout the night. Rutty added that once all the microwavable food had been delivered, the business would close for the night.

Taste Harmony initially applied for a license to operate from 11am-5am on Monday to Friday but agreed to amend this to a 2am finish after the council raised concerns. He also offered to use Uber Eats as the sole delivery provider and agreed to stagger orders to ease congestion.

Despite this, licensing officer George Wokorach expressed concerns that these measures would not adequately safeguard neighbours. He said: “There could still be noise from people coming and going, kitchen activities, and the banging and dropping of objects when people are trying to sleep.

“It’s very easy to say everything will go ahead as planned, but if the kitchen starts to make a lot of noise, we don’t have a fall back.”

Councillor and ex-Merton Civic Mayor Gill Manly also questioned how the applicant intended to mitigate the disruption caused by a potential build-up of delivery drivers. Manly and other councillors gave examples of how delivery drivers often tend to wait en masse outside a takeaway before a collection is needed.

The premises, at 8 Monmouth Close, sits on a side road off South Lodge Avenue in the residential Pollard’s Hill area. Rather than have Uber Eats drivers come to the door for collection, Rutty told the committee that delivery would take place on the pavement outside on the road.

He added that this will be managed through Uber Eats app, which allows them to hold a driver in place and know exactly where they are so “no doorbell has to be rung” throughout the night.

Rutty added that he had spoken to his neighbour and had taken measures to limit light and waste pollution to get his licence approved. Rutty already has an existing Taste Harmony restaurant based in the Sandwell district of Birmingham.

In his closing remarks, Rutty told the committee: “I know it’s human nature to think negatively about the unknown, but we’ve done this before and we know what we’re doing.”

The sub-committee will publish a decision on whether Taste Harmony is to receive its license within five working days of the hearing.

Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Solomon203  Licence here