Owners of new shisha bar in Hadleigh hit back at negative comments (From Echo)
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Owners of new shisha bar in Hadleigh hit back at negative comments
1:40pm Sunday 2nd December 2012 in Castle Point By Melissa Hills
Owners of new shisha bar in Hadleigh hit back at negative comments
THE owners of a new shisha bar say they want to be given a chance for the new venue to succeed in Hadleigh town centre.
Childhood friends Furdalls Khan, 25, and Iman Ali, 26, who both live in Southend, together opened the Mist Lounge in London Road two weeks ago.
They have moved to reassure people who are running nearby businesses who have raised concerns that the business will not be a nuisance and will actually be an asset to the town centre.
The shisha bar has been set up inside a tent and the business partners say they are dedicated to making the venture a success.
Mr Ali said: “We feel the criticisms we have received are very unfair, especially when we have only just launched our business and we are trying our best to make a living.
“We are not selling alcohol and it is not going to be a venue where anti-social behaviour happens or where teenagers congregate.
“We have a strict over 18’s policy and we make sure we check everyone’s ID to ensure they are of the appropriate age.
"I think there has been so much bad feeling towards the bar because it is something a bit different which is nowhere else in the area.”
Mr Ali said lots of neighbours living nearby have popped in to have a look and they have reassured them that the shisha bar is not going to be a troublesome venue.
The venue, which is in a tent, the were leasing the land where the tent for the bar has been erected and they would allow people to come in with their own food to the venue.
He added: “We have been to lots of shisha bars across London and we wanted to make our one a really relaxed place where people can just come and chill out.
“We have already got group bookings for the Christmas period, we have lost out on a lot of trade because of how negative people have been up to this point, hopefully people will see this is a positive attribute to Hadleigh.”
Castle Point Council said it was still investigating planning permission the venue needed and inquiries were on-going with its departments.
A spokesman from Castle Point Council added: “Castle Point Council’s Planning Enforcement, Environmental Health and Licensing Officers are all aware of this use.
"Inquiries from all departments are on-going and the owners are aware of the council’s investigations.
“Any evidence or concerns which any local residents may have can be forwarded to these departments, so they can be taken into account as part of these inquiries.”
Comments(54)
Brunning999
says...
3:10pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Rollocks
says...
3:40pm Sun 2 Dec 12
As said above Good luck chaps what a great idea
Rollocks
says...
3:42pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Brunning999 wrote:Flavoured smoking in a hubley bubbley
What exactly do they sell?
John T Pharro
says...
4:28pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Also have they asked for planning permission?
marshman
says...
4:50pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Or this some cultural tradition that the council will be too scared to do anything other than turn a blind eye to?
My view is that the law needs to apply to all sides of the community (and tent) and shouldn't be ignored just to suit a minority.
trell
says...
5:31pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Come on, people. what is wrong with a shisha bar? Are you really that close-minded? Years of multiculturalism have enriched the UK in more ways than just having Chinese or Indian takeaways.
Shisha IS legal. It is harmless, and anyone who has ever been close to one will agree, it smells wonderful!
There are connotations that it may look like illegal drugs are being consumed, due to the paraphanalea used.
Rich:Carol
says...
5:44pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Im in my 60s and used one many times in Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Morroco, Jordan and Israel. They use a kind of scented tobacco orange blackcurrant banana and lots of nice flavours. In Jordan they put Hashish in the burner but we avoided that.
It makes you cough as some mixtures are strong and YES it is smoking.
Not sure how they got a licence to smoke on business premises.
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW ?
This could open many loopholes in the law.
Shane7777
says...
5:47pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Spyglass
says...
5:57pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Never been to a shisha café before, it's something I've always wanted to try.
Good Luck Lads, hope it works out for you
Olivia2847
says...
6:20pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Spyglass wrote:Amazing experience, very therapeutic ! Go and try and stop nimbieing!
i'm going to go, relax & enjoy. winter's here so I can pretend i'm on holiday in Tunisia etc.
Never been to a shisha café before, it's something I've always wanted to try.
Good Luck Lads, hope it works out for you
marshman
says...
6:46pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Olivia2847 wrote:I'm not nimbying, just wondering why this is legal and smoking a cigarette in a bar isn't.
Spyglass wrote: i'm going to go, relax & enjoy. winter's here so I can pretend i'm on holiday in Tunisia etc. Never been to a shisha café before, it's something I've always wanted to try. Good Luck Lads, hope it works out for youAmazing experience, very therapeutic ! Go and try and stop nimbieing!
Brunning999
says...
7:01pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Test Tickle
says...
7:47pm Sun 2 Dec 12
emcee
says...
7:59pm Sun 2 Dec 12
These shisha bars are potential victims of an ill thought out smoking law which was set out to protect non smokers, a section of society which shisha bars do not set out cater for anyway.
I am a non-smoker and I say good luck to them..
Nebs
says...
8:33pm Sun 2 Dec 12
asbo industries inc
says...
8:41pm Sun 2 Dec 12
echoforum
says...
8:53pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Closed by Xmas ....hopefully
Nebs
says...
10:14pm Sun 2 Dec 12
asbo industries inc wrote:All those government offices, used 40 hours a week then left empty. There are 168 hours in a week, enough for 4 shifts, they could use the buildings 24/7 and reduce their estate by 75 percent.
nebs, as ever the voice of reason. bring back smoking in the poncing sector. we gotta cut the public sector pension cost
asbo industries inc
says...
10:27pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Nebs wrote:hmmmmm fireworks!
asbo industries inc wrote:All those government offices, used 40 hours a week then left empty. There are 168 hours in a week, enough for 4 shifts, they could use the buildings 24/7 and reduce their estate by 75 percent.
nebs, as ever the voice of reason. bring back smoking in the poncing sector. we gotta cut the public sector pension cost
Devils Advocate
says...
10:47pm Sun 2 Dec 12
Rich:Carol wrote:I think the clue may lie in the first three words of your post.
Any building that is classed as a buisness has a NO SMOKING policy. It is 100% illegal to smoke on any premises whether its Cigarettes, cigars, tobacco or Shisha it is an offence where owners could face up to a £5,000 fine for allowing this to happen.
Im in my 60s and used one many times in Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Morroco, Jordan and Israel. They use a kind of scented tobacco orange blackcurrant banana and lots of nice flavours. In Jordan they put Hashish in the burner but we avoided that.
It makes you cough as some mixtures are strong and YES it is smoking.
Not sure how they got a licence to smoke on business premises.
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW ?
This could open many loopholes in the law.
I did not know what shisha was, I thought that was a rifle grenade mounted on that tubing!
However, it is surely a place where only smokers will go. It gets them off the streets outside of malls and pubs like the Moon on the Square in Basildon. So I would ask, where's the harm?
Nuclear bombs are more harmful than smoking, but, the Government don't rake taxes off them so, they stopped people using them in this country without a by your leave. They make money from fags so they only half heartedly attack those. I also believe fags are the mounting medium for weed, so surely, if they out and out banned those, weed would vanish as well?
Anyway, good luck to these lads for showing enterprise and trying to make an honest living!
bumper
says...
1:03am Mon 3 Dec 12
closed it down smoking in doors
is against the law but as always the police turn a blind eye to this race as they do not know how to deal with them yes you know why ?
British law being made a **** of again
they are braking the law and something should be done .
pubs lost lots of trade through no smoking and this race get the ok its a joke one big one ....
Rich:Carol
says...
8:51am Mon 3 Dec 12
You all know that a driver who delivers as an example a box of nails to Newcastle from Ramsden cannot smoke in his vehicle as the vehicle is classed and becomes a place of work.
Its very strange indeed how these men have got around this law. Human rights cannot come into it as the law is the law. Being foriegn cannot get past this law.
Im sure if I applied to open a Shisha in Ramsden on my own land or council land for the purpose of allowing the public to pay me to smoke then I would not get over the first hurdle.
This is a strange story ? ? ? ? ?
bumper
says...
8:54am Mon 3 Dec 12
is it one law for one race and one for another that is what it seems to me .
its also about time the law sorted out the car wash's out after this is another group of people that seem to please them selves and the law turn a blind eye to its a joke one big .
AndyBSG
says...
9:01am Mon 3 Dec 12
Eric Whim
says...
9:57am Mon 3 Dec 12
No-one seems to bat an eyelid, even those privately hired goons who were meant to be stopping people littering etc would leave them alone.
It's all a crock....
J_blond
says...
10:06am Mon 3 Dec 12
I say good luck to them - it's different!
Curbishly
says...
10:44am Mon 3 Dec 12
But lets not worry about residents and their children when you can indulge in your own selfish little acts.
Devils Advocate
says...
1:14pm Mon 3 Dec 12
Eric Whim wrote:Not wishing to have a go of course, but I walked through the town this morning and within 150 yards of doing so saw two groups of "Those prvately hired goons" busily issuing on the spot penalty thingies at the dreaded criminals known as Smokers! Not a hundred yards away were two members of our society being cruelly picked on by three of our noble police officers, they were actually arresting the male of the two because he had been caught begging!
All this moaning about smoking indoors and the law, you only need to go to Basildon Bus Station (the bookies/Aviva Building/Eastgate entrance end) and see people sitting right underneath the 'no smoking' signs puffing away like chimneys rather than stand a few feet away outside the shelter of the roof to see how seriously this is taken by the general public.
No-one seems to bat an eyelid, even those privately hired goons who were meant to be stopping people littering etc would leave them alone.
It's all a crock....
Only thing is, I feel a little lost because, according to most of the gentry on here, officers of the law do not step out of their cars, but there they were on foot and not a car in sight!!
Wish they would get the decibel meters out agin and arrest these big kids with bean tin exhausts, then my christmas would be complete!
bongking
says...
1:20pm Mon 3 Dec 12
Devils Advocate
says...
1:27pm Mon 3 Dec 12
bongking wrote:Tell that to the car drivers. Especially with the news about diesel particulates!
Any kind of smoke going into your lungs, cannot be right, your lungs are just used for the air they need so your body can function!!
John T Pharro
says...
4:42pm Mon 3 Dec 12
Curbishly wrote:I actually agree with you. As to the legality, having Googled it from all accounts what they are doing is not, because it is tobacco.
No mention I see of the fact that this "bar" has been playing loud music until 2.am upsetting residents in the houses and flats nearby.
But lets not worry about residents and their children when you can indulge in your own selfish little acts.
Mixed Pickles
says...
5:43pm Mon 3 Dec 12
emcee wrote:A bit like the coffee shops in the Netherlands then except that most of their customers enter the premises with the express intention of smoking cannabis. I think it's high time we adopted a similarly tolerant attitude. Let's see a whole new culture locally. Shisha bars licenced to sell shisha and coffee shops licenced to sell cannabis. I'm all for it !
The difference between shisha bars and bars that sell alcohol (or any other public accessible buildings for that matter) is that the patrons of shisha bars deliberately go in to smoke.
These shisha bars are potential victims of an ill thought out smoking law which was set out to protect non smokers, a section of society which shisha bars do not set out cater for anyway.
I am a non-smoker and I say good luck to them..
Olivia2847
says...
5:48pm Mon 3 Dec 12
Mixed Pickles wrote:Exactly - love peace and piccalilli !
emcee wrote:A bit like the coffee shops in the Netherlands then except that most of their customers enter the premises with the express intention of smoking cannabis. I think it's high time we adopted a similarly tolerant attitude. Let's see a whole new culture locally. Shisha bars licenced to sell shisha and coffee shops licenced to sell cannabis. I'm all for it !
The difference between shisha bars and bars that sell alcohol (or any other public accessible buildings for that matter) is that the patrons of shisha bars deliberately go in to smoke.
These shisha bars are potential victims of an ill thought out smoking law which was set out to protect non smokers, a section of society which shisha bars do not set out cater for anyway.
I am a non-smoker and I say good luck to them..
John T Pharro
says...
6:32pm Mon 3 Dec 12
Mixed Pickles wrote:Then change the law not break it.
emcee wrote:A bit like the coffee shops in the Netherlands then except that most of their customers enter the premises with the express intention of smoking cannabis. I think it's high time we adopted a similarly tolerant attitude. Let's see a whole new culture locally. Shisha bars licenced to sell shisha and coffee shops licenced to sell cannabis. I'm all for it !
The difference between shisha bars and bars that sell alcohol (or any other public accessible buildings for that matter) is that the patrons of shisha bars deliberately go in to smoke.
These shisha bars are potential victims of an ill thought out smoking law which was set out to protect non smokers, a section of society which shisha bars do not set out cater for anyway.
I am a non-smoker and I say good luck to them..
Spyglass
says...
6:43pm Mon 3 Dec 12
BUT. In the bars & restaurants of the houses of parliament they can still smoke, inside.
Why pick on these lads for breaking the ban when the powers that be can do it whenever they want.
John T Pharro
says...
6:56pm Mon 3 Dec 12
Spyglass wrote:I think you will find that is not correct. Just 4 areas all outside. However, not sure about the House of Lords.
Everyone knows about the smoking ban law.
BUT. In the bars & restaurants of the houses of parliament they can still smoke, inside.
Why pick on these lads for breaking the ban when the powers that be can do it whenever they want.
InTheKnowOk
says...
9:03am Tue 4 Dec 12
southend_Dave
says...
10:41am Tue 4 Dec 12
Seriously ?
Firestormgjc
says...
1:17pm Tue 4 Dec 12
They are technically smoking outside albeit under a canopy , therefore the ban does not apply.
adam000
says...
3:43pm Tue 4 Dec 12
DogsMessInLeigh
says...
4:04pm Tue 4 Dec 12
Alekhine
says...
4:55pm Tue 4 Dec 12
Spyglass wrote:A specific exception was made for the house of commons bar when the legislation was put through. The same thing happened when the old opening hours restriction were passed. The HOC bar was an exception and able to stay open 24/7 if it wanted to.
Everyone knows about the smoking ban law. BUT. In the bars & restaurants of the houses of parliament they can still smoke, inside. Why pick on these lads for breaking the ban when the powers that be can do it whenever they want.
asbo industries inc
says...
9:27pm Tue 4 Dec 12
InTheKnowOk wrote:i sympathise. there is one particular poster who you and i lock horns with regularly who complains about practically every post.
My previous comment was removed, why I haven't a clue as I was NOT being racist when I quoted "sometimes I wonder what Country I am living in" .. By this, I was NOT referring to the colour of their skin .. I was thinking this is not the sort of thing that is wanted in a quaint village such as Hadleigh ..There is no call for this establishment end of .. Opening up this shop won't bring trade in, people are going to avoid it like the plague .
InTheKnowOk
says...
10:00pm Tue 4 Dec 12
asbo industries inc wrote:Funny that, because he's the one that dishes out a string of insults yet his posts don't get taken down, I guess I could report the comments but that's being a bit childish right? ;-)
InTheKnowOk wrote:i sympathise. there is one particular poster who you and i lock horns with regularly who complains about practically every post.
My previous comment was removed, why I haven't a clue as I was NOT being racist when I quoted "sometimes I wonder what Country I am living in" .. By this, I was NOT referring to the colour of their skin .. I was thinking this is not the sort of thing that is wanted in a quaint village such as Hadleigh ..There is no call for this establishment end of .. Opening up this shop won't bring trade in, people are going to avoid it like the plague .
asbo industries inc
says...
10:07pm Tue 4 Dec 12
Djfresh
says...
8:25am Wed 5 Dec 12
Eric Whim wrote:Firstly get you're story straight you're talking about the bus drivers etc?
All this moaning about smoking indoors and the law, you only need to go to Basildon Bus Station (the bookies/Aviva Building/Eastgate entrance end) and see people sitting right underneath the 'no smoking' signs puffing away like chimneys rather than stand a few feet away outside the shelter of the roof to see how seriously this is taken by the general public.
No-one seems to bat an eyelid, even those privately hired goons who were meant to be stopping people littering etc would leave them alone.
It's all a crock....
They are not breaking the law standing there!! The roof goes over diagonal giving a perfect legal smoking shelter so stick that in your shisha pipe and smoke it
Parsnip
says...
11:05am Thu 6 Dec 12
fireblade96
says...
7:10am Fri 7 Dec 12
Shoebury_Cyclist
says...
11:42am Fri 7 Dec 12
InTheKnowOk wrote:Hmmm. Here's a picture of a quaint village:
My previous comment was removed, why I haven't a clue as I was NOT being racist when I quoted "sometimes I wonder what Country I am living in" .. By this, I was NOT referring to the colour of their skin .. I was thinking this is not the sort of thing that is wanted in a quaint village such as Hadleigh ..There is no call for this establishment end of .. Opening up this shop won't bring trade in, people are going to avoid it like the plague .
http://blog.homeaway
.co.uk/wp-content/up
loads/2012/02/cotswo
lds.jpg
and here's a picture of Hadleigh:
http://images.rt-sb.
net/EAH/eah3309.JPG
Can anyone spot the difference?
Mist Lounge
says...
12:58am Sun 9 Dec 12
Olivia2847 wrote:Hello to all,
Good luck guys, it could have been another charity shop, nail bar or Thai massage parlour....
I am the owner of the Mist Lounge in question. I would like to thank everyone who have taken their time in posting these comments. All are of valuable conclusions drawn on my new found business of a shisha bar. There have been a number of people scrutinising the law regarding the smoking being taken place in such a property. I would like to stress the importance on this topic and would like to make it clear that a tent is used for smoking in as it adheres to the smoking ban regulations. The law required 50% of the non substantial enclosure to be opened and that is exactly what we do!
People are talking about the law and the criticisms of such a trade. However, they are failing to realise that in no shape or form are we trying to upset residents. Infact, I have come across a comment in which states we have apprently been playing music until 2am which is totally untrue. We are not even open until that time and therefore there is no possibility for such. Music is kept at a total ambient level which can not possible be heard by neighbours.
I know all this is a bit boring to talk about but there are many positives that prevail the negatives of the trade. There is no alcohol on premises neither any drug use. Surely parents should be more supportive as they should be reassured that their teenagers are not out getting drunk or are up to no good. They are in a safe and friendly environment socialising with others.
This shisha lounge provides nothing short of a relaxing experience and adds some value to an area like Hadleigh. Teenagers have not much to do in terms of activities, therefore this would provide them with something a little different. Please do not judge us without visiting us. I am certain that any negative presumptions will be eliminated.
The local police are very delighted with what we are doing as it is reducing trouble on the streets. Where the council are concerned, we are cooperating with them and adhering to the relevant regulations. I hope this post eliminates many ambiguities and I hope that people could come visit us and then comment on what they think of Mist Lounge.
I am very happy to assist with any further questions. We would love to welcome yourselves, as long as over the age of 18 to come down and have a unique expreience which is sure to give your taste buds the fruitiest flavour ever!!! Thank you very much for reading. I am excited to hear of thoughts relating to the experience!
luckymus
says...
12:44pm Wed 12 Dec 12
luckymus
says...
12:45pm Wed 12 Dec 12
Devils Advocate
says...
11:05pm Wed 12 Dec 12
I must say that your comment was very eloquent and, as I said in an earlier post, I wish you all the best in your venture.
Olivia2847 says...
2:10pm Sun 2 Dec 12