Hammersmith Civic Campus wins licence to serve alcohol until 3am

Hammersmith and Fulham councillors have licensed the main building of the council’s Civic Campus on King Street to sell alcohol until 3am. The licence also covers music and films, seven days a week.

The council’s Licensing Sub-Committee granted it on the evening of 22 September. Two outdoor spaces get an earlier finish of 11pm. They are Civic Avenue and Unity Square.

What the Hammersmith Civic Campus will include

The scheme will turn the King Street site into a mix of homes, bars, workspace and cultural venues around a refurbished town hall. It includes 204 new homes.

Councillors also approved six provisional statements at the same meeting. These give a licensing framework to premises that are still being built and have no tenants yet. The rooftop restaurant is one of them; the new skypark is another. When tenants sign up, each operator must apply for its own premises licence. The applications were made on the council’s behalf by Thomas and Thomas Partners LLP.

The approvals are a sign the project is nearing completion after years of delay. Ardmore, its lead contractor, went into administration earlier this year. The council said then that the schedule would change only slightly and that it had contingency plans.

Residents objected to the 3am hours

Two residents objected during the consultation. One wrote that the hours were excessive for a residential stretch of King Street and looked like a nightclub licence. An 11pm close every night would be acceptable, the objector said.

At the meeting, Hammersmith resident Una-Jane Winfield argued that the streets around the campus are mostly homes. She doubted that people moving into the new homes would tolerate loud music from the top floor late at night. She also expected trouble from ride-hailing cars parking on King Street. “I think this is a very unwise application,” she said.

Speaking for the applicants, Alun Thomas described the campus as a “major regeneration scheme”. He said the hours applied for were only suggested, with a dispersal plan among the measures to manage any problems. He told councillors that not every event would run until 3am.