Warwick District Council has approved a meadery, tasting room and shop in Railway Arch 16 off Neilston Street. Doors shut at 10.30pm, outdoor seats end at 9pm.

A mead producer with a tasting room is coming to the railway arches in Leamington’s Old Town. Warwick District Council granted planning permission on 21 September for Railway Arch 16 at the Victoria Business Centre, off Neilston Street, to become “a meadery, education facility, community meeting space and retail with ancillary bar”.

The applicant is a business called The Hive Leamington. Its noise management statement describes a small-batch producer of “traditional and contemporary mead” with room for about 40 seated customers, guided tastings, bottles to take away and demonstrations of how mead is made. It says the venue is “intended to be relaxed, educational and experience-led rather than operating as a public house or late-night drinking venue”.

What the council allowed, and the limits it set

The decision was made by officers under delegated powers, so it did not go to the planning committee. The decision notice carries six conditions. The ones that matter to neighbours are:

  • Hours: customers only between 10.30am and 10.30pm Monday to Friday, 12.30pm to 10.30pm on Saturday and 1pm to 10pm on Sunday, with one exception, New Year’s Eve, when they may stay until 1am
  • Music: no amplified live or recorded music inside until a noise insulation scheme has been approved and installed; background music is allowed
  • Outside: no external speakers or tannoy, no amplified music outdoors, and nobody in the outdoor seating area after 9pm
  • Works: no changes to the outside of the arch, and the work must start within three years

The business had asked for 10am to 10.30pm every day. The council’s environmental health team asked for the hours as conditioned, and the officer’s report explains why they do not match the other arches. It says a single standard closing time for every unit on Neilston Street “would then close and disperse their customers onto the street at the same time”, which is more likely to cause trouble than staggered closing times that let people leave “in smaller numbers”.

The arches have become a drinks quarter, and the council knows it

The officer’s report is candid about what has happened under the viaduct. It says the arches are now occupied by “a gym, microbrewery, bar and cafe”, that Neilston Street “has become increasingly busier due to the different establishments that have developed over the last few years, mainly for the use of drinking establishments”, and that other units in the area “have been subject to noise complaints”.

The council’s own planning register shows the run of applications for the same row of arches. In the last two years it lists:

Arch 16 itself was the subject of an application for a martial arts gym in 2020. The nearest homes are on Camberwell Terrace and Baxter Court, reached from the arches by a footpath, and the report says their amenity was given “careful consideration”.

Who objected and who backed it

The council received two objections, on noise, the effect on people living nearby and parking, and five comments in support, which the report summarises as “support for diverse business, contributions to local economy, and bringing back arches into use”.

Royal Leamington Spa Town Council supported it, saying it “will provide local employment opportunities and contribute to the local economy in this part of Leamington”. Warwickshire Police raised no objection. Environmental health raised none either, subject to the hours and music conditions.

The site sits inside the town centre boundary but outside the protected Town Centre Employment Area, which is why the loss of a light industrial unit did not count against it.

What it means for you

  • If you live on Camberwell Terrace or Baxter Court, the conditions are the thing to keep. Customers must be out of the garden by 9pm and off the premises by 10.30pm, or 10pm on Sundays. A breach of a planning condition is reported to the district council’s planning enforcement team, not the police.
  • If you want to visit, the permission is for a producer first and a bar second. The business told the council it will not host amplified bands, DJs or karaoke, and that any performances will be acoustic. We have not seen an opening date published by the business itself, so check its own channels before making a trip.
  • If you run a business nearby, the officer’s reasoning on staggered closing times is worth reading. It signals that the council will set different hours for different arches rather than one standard time, and that it is watching the cumulative noise from the street as a whole.

The arches are a short walk from the Old Town car parks, and the council’s register of every live application in the district is explained on our planning applications page.