West London will welcome a new JD Wetherspoon after the pub chain received approval to move into a former box office. The disused building at Fulham Broadway Station, which was last used as a food court, is to be turned into a two-storey pub and restaurant following Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s decision earlier this week.
A number of concessions were made by JD Wetherspoon during the Licensing Sub-Committee meeting, including the sale of alcohol starting at 09.00 instead of 08.00 as originally requested, and for outside sales to be limited to the pub’s terrace.
A total of 20 objections, including one from the local parish council and Hammersmith and Fulham deputy leader Ben Coleman, were submitted ahead of the session this week. Concerns raised included the risk of increased crime and disorder if the application was approved, and the implications of selling alcohol after midnight.
One objector wrote: “In the three years that my husband and I have lived near the Fulham Broadway end of Barclay Road, we and our neighbors have been victims of crime and disorder caused by excessive and late drinking. We need help from LB Hammersmith and Fulham to start tackling the levels of crime and disorder we see on any given weekday or weekend. Late hours are a particular problem – please do not grant a license to allow the sale of alcohol after midnight in the Old Market Hall on Fulham Road.”
Concerns about roof access, opening and closing times and when Chelsea play at home
During the meeting, objections from residents largely revolved around three areas; the access to the roof, especially for children, the effects of outside sales, with particular concern when Chelsea FC play at their home ground just around the corner, and the opening/closing times.
Sarah Chambers, resident and acting co-chair of the Walham Green Town Ward Panel, said she is delighted to have the premises taken over and to be active again. Of the proposed opening hours, which were requested to extend from 8am to midnight Sunday to Thursday and 11pm to 1am Friday and Saturday, she said: “Residents would certainly hope that these hours are limited at midnight. It’s a very busy area, and there is also a fairly heavy residential population along Harwood Road which faces almost directly onto Wetherspoon and directly behind it.”
Charlotte Dexter, who lives locally and represented a number of other residents, specifically mentioned the proposal to start serving alcohol at 8am as a problem. Nigel Connor, legal director and corporate secretary at JD Wetherspoon, told the committee he was pleased to have the time changed to 9am, which, while still earlier than the 10am requested by Dexter, is in line with the chain’s other pubs in the district.
The final approved opening hours for the premises were 8am to midnight Sunday to Thursday and 11pm to 1am Friday to Saturday, with alcohol to be sold 9am to 11.30pm Sunday to Thursday, and 9am to 12.30pm Friday and Saturday. The additional conditions agreed during the meeting stipulate that there shall be no sale of alcohol for consumption outside except on the external terrace, that a member of staff shall organize and host meetings with residents at least twice a year and that the premises shall form part of the local The Pubwatch system.
After the meeting, JD Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We are very pleased that the plans for the new Wetherspoon pub in Fulham have been approved.”
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