Former bank turned Pub given green light to sell alcohol

A pub has been given the green light to sell booze and some residents are angry.

The Green Goddess is set to be built on the site of a former Barclays Bank in Blackheath.

The pub will also function as a nanobrewery, meaning they will produce their own beer.

But residents fear noise and disruption from the new pub will damage their peaceful lives.

Greenwich Council licensing bosses signed-off on the plan on December 16.

Applicants Stephen and Maryann O’Conner said it will create an “inclusive” environment that would be safe and welcoming for women.

They have previously tested out their pub with pop-up centres around the area.

Mr O’Conner told the committee: “We started on this journey as beer is a male-dominated environment and we wanted to try and reduce that stigma and that was part of the naming process.

“The Green Goddess [is named after] Ninkani, the Goddess of beer, and she’s a strong female lead and it helped promote the sort of space we want to be that considers all people that might want to use it.

“Where traditionally pubs can be unwelcoming and exclude people, we want to be inclusive.

“To that end we’ve designed the layout of   the premises to   function as a brewery   and as a welcome, comforting, open pub.

“The point of the pub is to educate and for people to come and enjoy and understand what they’re drinking. It’s not about drink as much as you can in the shortest amount of time.”

Mrs O’Conner said: “We’ve had so many positives about the name that we’ve chosen and how it will make women feel safer in the area. We chose the name as there were so many places called ‘The Green Man’ and we wanted to set the tone for what we wanted it to be.”

Residents raised issues they had with the pub at the meeting, including the man living next door it.

Mr Fungard, whose first name was not given, said many of his concerns had been dealt with but he still worried about traffic and deliveries to the pub.

He said: “The only remaining issue or clarification is around delivery. The site is really tricky from a delivery and traffic standpoint. It’s right on the corner of a really busy roundabout and those of us who live here know it can stack up with traffic quite easily.

“The idea of having lots of deliveries coming and going is one that raises safety concerns. We’ve got two little kids in the house and we worry a lot about the traffic.”

Ann Hill of the Westcombe Society said   she   had   concerns   with   the outside area of the pub, which Mr Fungard added he did not want to see become a “smoking lounge”.

Ms Hill said: “We need a condition to say that there should be no seating, no gathering and no smoking in that area on the Vanbrugh Park site.”

Mr O’Conner said deliveries will be minimal as they are brewing most of their own beer.

And council officers said concerns about the outdoor space could be dealt with later in the process.

 

Pictured: The former bank, soon to be the new home to a pub and brewery