A new Stonehaven wine bar has been given the go-ahead to continue selling alcohol until revamp work at its premises is finished.
Nadarra Wine Bar and Eatery opened its doors to customers in September.
It is located in the former James A. Bruce Printers unit in the heart of the town that went up for sale following Mr Bruce’s retirement.
So far, the Cameron Street venue has been operating on what’s known as occasional licences to allow it to sell alcohol to diners.
That means it doesn’t have a full booze licence yet.
But, premises boss Robert Armstrong faced the Aberdeenshire licensing board this morning as he had exceeded the number of those temporary requests allowed.
The independently-owned wine bar recently lodged six additional requests seeking permission to sell booze between January and March 2025.
Mr Armstrong had to explain why this was the case.
He also had to clear up why a permanent premises licence has not been applied for quite yet.
Nadarra owner addressed board
Mr Armstrong revealed he can’t gain a premises licence until renovation works are complete at the town centre venue.
“I wasn’t sure when the initial opening would be required so I put in occasional licences to cover from the start of August,” he said.
“Although they were granted, I hadn’t used them until the business opened at the end of September.
“The business is over three floors and the whole building needed refurbished so, because of that, I’m still waiting on the building warrant certificate to finish it off fully so I can put in the full premises licence.”
The bar manager stated he was still waiting for one or two things to get “ticked off”, but he was looking to apply for the premises licence by the start of February.
What did the licensing board say?
Licensing standards officer Keith Simpson explained that a full premises licence would “not be competent” until the building completion certificates are all received.
However, he said the council could “move forward quite swiftly” with the premises application once the works are finished.
Councillor Jeff Goodhall said he was “quite happy” with the bar’s progress, and noted that Mr Armstrong “cannot proceed until he has the paperwork required”.
“As long as he keeps in contact, I’m happy to continue with the occasional licences,” he added.
This view was shared by his fellow board members and they unanimously agreed to grant the applications.
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