PLANS for a new tapas and continental beers restaurant are being opposed by the local community, with fears raised over antisocial behaviour, bad smells and late-night noise.

The Wirral venue, which is expected to be called Trappist House Cafe, is expected to get the green light from planners on May 30 – but dozens of local residents have made their views clear.

The restaurant will be on Market Street in Hoylake, and wants to open from 8am until 11.30pm every day of the week.

But the plans are subject to a petition from nearby residents, with a total of 32 people having submitted representations to the council.

In the document to be discussed by the planning committee, reasons listed for opposition included: “Further licensed premises in the locality increases the risk of antisocial behaviour.

“There are enough late night premises in Hoylake. The premises are not large enough for use as a bar [and] the building is poorly soundproofed whilst cooking smells and noise and odour from people congregating outside, and smoking will harm amenity at the residential properties above.”

The building’s last use was as a cafe and flower shop, which had permission to open until 6pm from Monday to Saturday.

The representations added: “The later opening hours will result in an increase in noise and disturbance for local residents to the detriment of the peaceful enjoyment of their homes.”

Local councillor Andrew Gardner also submitted comments to the council, adding that nearby residents “would greatly have their peaceful enjoyment disrupted”.

In the report, council planning officer said there are a number of “nearby evening economy” buildings, including the Ship Inn pub, Whitt’s End Wine and Cocktail Bar, and the Co-Op, which are all open until at least 11pm and with larger floor areas than Trappist House Cafe.

It added: “As such the capacity of the application site will be much less and with responsible management the likely noise and disturbance would be less than that experienced from nearby premises.

“Therefore, whilst there may be some additional evening noise and disturbance for residents within the locality, it should not be significant in scale and duration, going beyond what could be expected in a key town centre location.”

Officers suggest that to fall in line with the World Health Organisation’s ‘night time hours’, for councillors to consider limiting the opening hours to 11pm.

“Such a restriction would also stagger the closing times of A3/A4 uses in the immediate vicinity reducing the potential for a concentration of activity and noise later in the evening and ensuring that a planning approval for later hours at this unit does not materially exacerbate any existing situation later into the evening than 11pm,” it said.

The report added that evening opening at the venue would have a “material effect” on nearby homes – but that it would be “small scale”, and outdoor music, eating and drinking won’t be allowed after 9pm.

The application was submitted by SK Real Estate.

Recommending the application for approval subject to several conditions, the report added: “Having regard to the location of the site and the proposed conditions to mitigate harm, officers conclude that allowing later hours at this unit will have economic benefits to Hoylake by bringing an empty unit back into use without causing significant harm to the amenity of the area or local residents when considering the already heightened level of noise and activity within this town centre location.”