A Cathcart pub has been given permission to make a temporary beer garden permanent - despite neighbours’ complaints about binge drinking and sectarian singing.
The Old Smiddy, on Old Castle Road, had been operating the area under a temporary licence — and residents claimed it has led to a rise in anti-social behaviour.
One neighbour said there had been “serious anti-social disturbances”, reporting “swearing, shouting, sectarian singing” as well as people “urinating in the lane”.
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Councillors heard how residents had “been forced to leave their gardens”.
But Glasgow’s Licensing Board agreed to vary Stonegate Pub Company’s premises licence to allow the beer garden, in a car park, to become permanent.
The firm agreed to move the beer garden into a “defined area” in the middle of the car park and reduce the capacity from 80 to 60. Customers will need to be seated and the area can open until 8pm.
Peter Lawson, representing Stonegate, said: “I think it will go quite a long way to moving the problem away from where most of the objectors live.”
He added: “There are two sides to this, there are people who have had trouble as a result of this temporary beer garden and other people who clearly enjoy it.
“This is a community pub and it has been there for a long time and it is not in their [Stonegate] interest to cause problems in their community.”
In total, there were seven objections and two representations. One neighbour said he had “not come across any issues with noise”. “I do feel that it adds something to the local community,” he said.
However, an objector said there had been an “unfortunate increase” in disorder since the beer garden opened, including “binge drinking”, particularly “on the days when there’s been football games at Hampden”, and “foul and inappropriate language”.
He believed the garden needed “much closer supervision” and also raised concerns over the impact of customers’ smoking “in such close proximity to homes”. “We don’t have an issue with the pub itself, it’s just the application for the beer garden outside.”
A representative from Simshill and Old Cathcart Community Council said residents had reported they have “experienced noise, drunkenness, increased noise as more alcohol is consumed, offensive language, sectarian singing, wearing of football colours and, on one occasion, shouting in support of a paramilitary organisation”.
She also said residents have “been forced to leave their gardens and go indoors when the car park is busy and the weather is good”. The community council believed using the car park as a beer garden “so close to the residents’ back gardens” is “unfair”.
Another objector said the garden had a “hugely detrimental” impact on quality of life. “The Old Smiddy is at the heart of a quiet residential area and, as such, should never have an outdoor beer garden,” she added.
Mr Lawson said Stonegate would be investing in the permanent beer garden. “The Old Smiddy is the ultimate community pub, it sits within the community and it is exactly the type of pub you want to have on your doorstep,” he added.
He said there was “good supervision” in the beer garden and suggested the firm would install extra CCTV to prevent customers from going down the lane, where residents have reported people urinating.
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