Licensing chiefs decide fate of Newbury nightclub Reloaded tomorrow

IT’S crunch time tomorrow, Wednesday, for Newbury’s new night spot as Reloaded seeks to get its premises licence granted.

The application by the Wharf Street watering hole, formerly Document House, will be considered by West Berkshire Council’s licensing sub committee at 10am.

The couple behind the 90s-themed venture, Mike Wall and his wife Sonja, may have a hill to climb – a number of residents have lodged formal objections.

And the police have asked the committee to impose a range of conditions, including scanning the ID of each punter.

One neighbour will tell the committee: “Last night the nightclub tested their sound system and it shook my windows.

“I already hear drunk people singing, shouting and sometimes fighting in the street outside my window into the early mornings every weekend and sometimes during the week.

“I accepted that there was going to be some of that when I agreed to live in an area with bars but opening a nightclub right next door will take this to a whole new level.”

Another has written: “While I am understanding of the proposed opening hours on Friday and Saturday (10am-4am), I personally find the proposed opening times for Sunday to Thursday (10am-2:30am) to be utterly unacceptable.”

Thames Valley Police have withdrawn their formal objection to the licence application following discussions with prospective management.

But they have asked the committee to impose a range of restrictions including “100 per cent Identity Scanning for all customers,” plus an “active search policy...to prevent illegal drugs and weapons being brought on to the premises.”

In addition, the police suggest, “noise from amplified music or voices shall not be such as to cause a noise nuisance to occupants of nearby premises.”

Meanwhile ward member Martin Colston (Lib Dem, Newbury Central) has written to the committee stating: “I would like to understand how often staff will monitor the noise outside after 11pm, and how they will assess whether it’s acceptable or not.

“I would like a commitment to survey the residents of the adjacent block of flats after the first two weeks of operation to determine the noise impact on residents, and a commitment to take appropriate action to mitigate any unacceptable noise disturbance.

“Finally, I would like the opening hours during the week (Sunday to Thursday inclusive) to be limited to midnight rather than 2:30am / 4:00am.”

Applicant Mr Wall has said the new venue will host jazz nights, theme nights, visiting artists, plenty of selfie spots and a kitchen to serve bottomless brunch parties.

He added “The plan was to do something like this abroad, but due to family reasons, we thought let’s try to do something in our own town and see what happens over the next few years.”

Mrs Wall has said: “We wanted to do something different to what Newbury has because I think there’s a real gap in the market for somewhere like this.”

After Document House closed in 2021, the site reopened as Document House sports bar in March 2022, which shut in July 2022.

It remained empty until now.

The outcome of the meeting will not be announced immediately but is expected in writing next week.