South Asian street food vendor Buddha Belly to open in Stirchley - but resident objects to alcohol licence

A South-East Asian restaurant in Stirchley has applied for an alcohol licence despite neighbours’ concerns it could set a “dangerous precedent”.

Buddha Belly on Pershore Road applied for a licence to sell drinks along with food between the hours of 10am and midnight. Despite complaints, owners say the restaurant wants to work with and not against the community.

An objection to the licence had been received from one local resident citing noise and anti-social concerns. The complainant said the granting of the licence would be to “the detriment of residents”.

What has Buddha Belly said about the concerns over selling alcohol at their new Stirchley venue?

In response, James Fitzgibbons, owner of Buddha Belly said: “it’s not going to be a place that attracts drinkers or noise, it’s going to be a quiet little local restaurant.”

Mr Fitzgibbons continued: “We wanted to create a really high-end Southeast Asian-inspired restaurant, which is where my wife and family’s heritage is from, but we also still wanted to keep it close to our roots of where we started from which is in street food.

“We’ve been looking for a site for our restaurant for a number of years. We’re a family-run business and we want to make sure this restaurant doesn’t do anything that has a negative impact on the area that it’s in or on the residents.

“So I and my wife are really keen to work with the council and with the residents to make sure that what we do is nothing but a positive thing for the area.”

What has the resident who has complained about the Buddha Belly alcohol licence application said in his own words?

The Pershore Road restaurant has been converted from a curry house which was divided to create two new spaces. Buddha Belly, the street vendors also have a permanent residency at Hockley Social club, will now swap a van for a restaurant to serve up their sizzling Pad Thai.

But, Mr Lowe, a local resident objecting to the application said: “The property is surrounded by residential properties so clearly agreeing to such an application would be to the detriment of the residents.

“Closing up of the premises, with for instance dropping empty bottles in bins, and patrons leaving, would cause unacceptable disturbance and negative effects on sleep and wellbeing. This would also set a dangerous precedent for licences being granted to nearby commercial properties.

“It should also be noted that major problems were caused locally and for the police when a late licence was held by the Three Horses pub (now the Bournbrook Inn) diagonally opposite.”

In reply, Mr Fitzgibbons stated they had made a proposal to the resident to only empty bottles between specific hours to reduce disturbance but received no reply. The council will now make a decision on the licence and publish it within the next five days.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going.