Maldon Town Council has voted to recommend approval of plans to turn the former premises of a travel agency on Maldon High Street into a boutique cocktail bar.

Members of the town council yesterday evening (Monday, 26 July) approved the proposal to replace the old TUI shop at 70B, High Street with Ginny's Bar, under plans to change its use from a retail to drinking establishment over two floors.

The final decision will be made by Maldon District Council.

The plans, from pubs and bars firm Ginny's Limited, include internal alterations to the premises and state that the bar would create an estimated three full-time and five part-time jobs. The business also intends to sign up to the Living Wage Foundation.

The debate centred on noise management at the proposed venue, which was previously raised as an issue by Environmental Health.

Councillor Michael Pearlman said: "My main concern is that there is residential area around there, [...] what concerns me is the opening hours."

Applicant Misha Rosenthall, director of Ginny's Limited, said: "I just wanted to reassure councillors that it's not intended to be a noisy venue."

She added: "It's a boutique cocktail bar, so it's intended for people to have a quiet catch up and a nice evening."

The company has now revised the bar's opening hours so that it would close at midnight on Friday and Saturday, rather than 1am.

Misha added: "The things that we're hoping to put in place are a sort of dispersal plan for Friday and Saturday evenings, so we'd like to try and stagger people, [...] to disperse people in a slower way, rather than emptying 60 people onto the street at midnight."

She said that she also plans to have drinking water available at all times on the tables, and door staff to help people leave.

The bar hopes to support local suppliers and offer smaller, niche brands more local exposure. It proposes to offer a range of artisan cocktails that are not currently available on the High Street.

The town council also discussed signage for the bar. Councillor Martin Harvey said: "The signage is actually, for me, most important in this because there's not a lot of frontage."

He added: "This is a conservation area, right opposite St. Peter's."

Misha assured councillors that there would be no backlit signage.

Councillor Andrew Lay said: "In that particular strip there's no other licensed premises, so it will change the High Street. That may change what's happening in that area of the High Street, which has traditionally been quiet and a retail area."

He added: "We need to make sure that the assurances are actually going to happen and it doesn't impact local residents."

Councillor Pearlman proposed to approve the bar on the condition that the issues raised by councillors - concerning signage, noise management and keeping to the revised opening hours - be addressed.

Councillor Pearlman's recommendation was seconded by Councillor Tony Shrimpton, and unanimously voted through.

Misha said: "It's not our intention to disturb anybody. If there were any problems, we'd always be happy to try to mitigate anything - within reason."