Achi news desk-
The objector believed that allowing sports on TV would turn the Bell Street venue into “another Celtic pub” below the flats, which was “very anti-social” for residents.
She was one of six people who opposed the proposal but the city’s licensing board approved the change. The applicant agreed to prevent visitors from wearing football colours.
A Police Scotland representative said the force had “one call specific to that location last year where sectarian singing was mentioned”. When the officers attended, there was nothing at the time.
The policeman said: “There was no confirmation that the place was involved.
“At this point there were a large number of people outside different premises.”
A council official said there had been four noise complaints relating to the venue in December, but when staff arrived “no noise nuisance was witnessed”.
Archie McIver, the licensing attorney representing the owners, insisted that the new location be a restaurant, not a sports bar.
The objector said: “I’ve lived in the building for over 20 years and I’ve just seen the decay of the area. It’s almost a sectarian no-go area in Glasgow now. It’s making our lives unbearable.”
She said people were out until 2am or 3am and the new scheme would see anti-social behavior “expanding around the corner”.
Another opponent was concerned about the “lack of diversity in the area” and the “erosion of residential comfort.”
He said: “This is not objection to noise. I understand where I chose to live.”
He believed the scheme would reduce the appeal of the Merchant City, which is “already a concentrated area of ​​football support”.
However, he later added: “If we’re talking about non-club people of color sitting inside a restaurant, watching some sporting event, I don’t think it’s a problem.”
Mr McIver said the building, which is currently empty, is “situated in a licensed complex” and “the main issue running through the objections is noise, nuisance, public disorder”.
He added: “I think we all know from past experience that there are other premises in the area that were subject to similar complaints.”
Mr McIver said it would be a “food-led operation” and there was no “attempt to turn it into a pub”.
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He said: “This year is a big sporting year. We have the Olympics, we have the European Football Championship games, we have Wimbledon, the Troon Open, etc.
“There are a lot of sporting events and they want to have the opportunity for people who go out to eat something to be able to see what’s going on.”
However, an objector said: “It’s all green and white flags, and it’s fine if they stay in the bar and don’t intrude on anyone’s life. But now it’s becoming a sectarian no-go area, which is embarrassing.”
Mr McIver said there had been complaints in the area but “not from this particular place”. He said the license already allowed for live music and he was “unaware” of noise issues associated with that.
He added that the restaurant will be sit-down, with table service, and the licensee has spoken with an acoustic consultant to see if measures are needed to limit the noise.
He said: “We cannot change the geographical location of the place.
“Will there be supporters in the Merchant City? Of course there will, especially when there’s a big game. It’s popular with a certain demographic of a football club.”
But he added that the place “will not seek to attract this clientele.” “If someone wants to come eat something, fine, no problem.”
The licensee is in talks with a potential tenant and the changes were made to “adjust the license to the wishes of the tenant”.
The place used to be the kebab restaurant Der Berliner which closed in November of last year, when the place operated then for a short time already under the name Apostel.
