By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter
A start-up business which takes its name from a Viking hero has secured permission to brew and sell mead from a Midanbury property.
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As previously reported, Wisdom of Ragnar submitted an application for a premises licence to Southampton City Council.
The business wanted to sell alcohol online and deliver it from Benham’s Farm House in Witts Hill.
The application went before members of the council’s licensing sub-committee after an objection was submitted by a resident, who had compiled a petition signed by neighbours concerned about noise, disruption and traffic.
Applicant Aaron Ward was joined at the meeting, which was held online, by agent Oisin Daly of Absolute Licence Solutions Ltd.
Mr Daly told councillors: “Just to reassure you, this is a very small scale mead production company.
“You will see the plans. I think the plans have been misinterpreted by some of the objectors because what it is, it’s a very small scale operation in what was initially constructed as a shed that was going to accompany a swimming pool.
“Mead itself, you only really need two components to make alcohol – yeast and sugar.
“There is no real industrial scale brewing process. It’s a couple of fermentation tubs, rather than tanks.”
He added: “This is just setting up with the minimum amount of costs in order to assess the viability of the business and if it is scalable, it will scale onto a different location.”
Mr Daly said the hours sought within the application, 9am to 5pm every day, were compliant with council policies.
No objections had been made by the relevant authorities.
Documents submitted as part of the application said the premises was located aside from a residential premises.
Explaining the background to the name, Mr Daly said Ragnar was an old Viking from the ninth century who invaded England on numerous occasions.
He added: “I would like to reassure you that if you grant this licence, as I hope you will, there won’t be hoards of Vikings at Southampton Port as soon as production starts.”
Members of the sub-committee approved the application for the supply of retail alcohol licence.
In the decision notice, councillors said they acknowledged the concerns raised in the objection regarding noise but noted there had been no representation opposing the proposal from environmental health.
They added that as it was a new application any concerns about noise were speculative and speculation could not be taken into account.
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