A council committee is to decide on an application for an alcohol and music licence for the converted chapel on Cemetery Road near Southampton Common.
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The application has received 73 public representations.
3 Men Squared Ltd wants the ground floor of the chapel, now used as office and co-worker space, to also be used as a “business hub for business events, breakfast meetings and training during the day and for evening gatherings for committees and groups to meet,” according to licensing documents.
The application stresses that the premises will only be open to guests invited to business events, and that the chapel is remotely situated and has “thick stone walls and no ground floor windows” to help prevent nuisance.
The facility “will not primarily be about drinking”, but rather the move will enable the applicants to “gain the necessary license to rent the space for events and allow the consumption of alcohol”.
However a number of objectors raise concerns that the Victorian cemetery location, where they say burials still take place, is an area for “quiet contemplation and reflection”, and detail concerns about possible noise, including from car parking in nearby roads.
Concerns about disturbance to wildlife are also raised.
“Respect for those buried in the cemetery” and safety concerns given the remote location, are also cited in objections.
Highfield Residents’ Association commented: “HRA cannot think of a development that would be less suitable or more inappropriate than what is proposed here for almost all-hours sale/consumption of liquor and music.”
The council’s Licensing (Licensing & Gambling) Sub Committee is due to hear the case on January 12 from 3pm, viewable online from