Gin Bar Forced to Close After Decades-Old Planning Restriction ‘No One Even Knew About’ Was Found

The gin bar and hotel, CFeleven, has been open for over six years and serves food alongside a massive offering of gin. (Photo: CFeleven/Facebook)

CFeleven, a well-loved gin bar in Cardiff, U.K., has been forced to close in February following the discovery of a decades-old planning restriction limiting who can be served alcohol at the location, reported WalesOnline.

CFeleven was run for 40 years solely as a bed and breakfast location before an upscale gin bar was added in 2017. Jason Hamer, who has owned the site for 16 years now, was approved for a liquor license in 2017.

The planning document — which dates back to 1979 — states that alcohol can only be sold to residents who are staying at the B&B, excluding the “general public,” BBC reported.

“We had just spent a lot of money converting the whole downstairs and garden, putting in a kitchen and getting a heater umbrella… It’s ridiculous,” said Hamer, per WalesOnline. “No one even knew about the planning condition. It wouldn’t surprise me if a few of the former B&Bs on Cathedral Road have a similar rule.”

The document was reportedly dug up from decades of archives by a Cardiff council officer, reported WalesOnline.

After Hamer was informed that his bar did not have “open to non-residents” permission, he applied to the council for the condition to be removed. According to reports, the application was denied, with one of the main reasons being the possibility of disturbing residents of the area.

Hamer informed WalesOnline that as far as he knew, “there were no issues with planning.” During Covid, the location experienced an influx of people drinking in its outdoor beer garden. However, according to the report, the local environmental health department’s sound test determined no noise nuisance. 

Since news of the closure, five employees have become “redundant” and the owner is unsure of how his business will continue.

“It’s an option to keep running it as a B&B but it’s also an option to convert to flats or sell it,” Hamer said, according to WalesOnline.

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