A troubled pub which has blighted residents’ lives for years is to be allowed to re-open under a new licensee.

The Silent Woman in Nabbs Lane, Slaithwaite, shut down in December 2023 after allegations of noise nuisance, drunken behaviour, drug-dealing and under-age drinking.

Residents living nearby told how their lives were made a misery by “hardened drinkers” shouting, swearing and being abusive. One couple told how homophobic abuse had driven them from their home.

After complaints, police called for a review of the licence last October but the licensee surrendered the licence and closed the pub.

Now an experienced pub landlord, Nicola Hunter, has secured a new licence to take the pub on.

Ms Hunter, who hails from Slaithwaite and runs The Bootham Tavern in York, has pledged to turn around the Silent Woman and make it what she described as a “cutesy country pub” for families and tourists.

There were 14 objections but Ms Hunter was granted a licence with conditions after a meeting of Kirklees Council’s licensing panel at Huddersfield Town Hall.

 

Nicola Hunter speaking at the licensing panel

 

Ms Hunter told how she turned around the “problematic” Bootham Tavern with a zero tolerance of drugs and CCTV that covered every part of the pub.

She had a “challenge 25” policy to check the age of customers and also introduced a “rogue’s gallery” of photos of under-age drinkers so that staff knew to refuse them.

Ms Hunter said she well understood the problems and how the Silent Woman had been “run down horrendously.”

She added: “I understand it cannot open as what it was.”

Residents were concerned over noise nuisance from a beer garden at the rear and also about drinkers spilling out across the pavement in front of the pub.

Ms Hunter said she planned to close the beer garden and would rather park her car there instead. She said customers would not be allowed to take drinks outside and there would be a single bench and a bin for smokers.

She said the pub had been completely stripped out inside and the longer-term plan was to install a small commercial kitchen and serve food.

She said she intended to be present at the pub every evening and wants to move back to Slaithwaite to be closer to family.

 

 

Residents who gave evidence weren’t convinced by Ms Hunter’s assurances, however.

Mum-of-three Sarah Young, who has lived in Slaithwaite for 20 years, said the Silent Woman had always been a “very rundown chaotically-run pub frequented by hardened drinkers.”

She said the same “hardened core of clientele” would return and added: “Since the pub has been closed it’s been a breath of fresh air for residents. It’s very traumatic to think it might be opened again.”

Mrs Young said the pub was in a residential area, not in the village centre, and Slaithwaite didn’t need another pub.

“There are seven pubs, three clubs, two licensed occasional venues and seven restaurants with alcohol licences in what’s a quite small but thriving village,” she said.

A couple told of the homophobic abuse they suffered which forced them to move out. They also showed the panel a video of the noise and nuisance coming from the pub.

One said: “For someone in their 40s suffering homophobic abuse…you don’t know what we have been through. I pray this council does not grant this licence.”

Ms Hunter responded: “If you had seen what the Bootham Tavern was like before I took it on you would have more faith. I changed habits at the Tavern and I am confident I can change them at the Silent Woman.”

The panel granted a licence with the following conditions: no alcohol outside the building; the beer garden does not open; a clearly marked smoking area; CCTV internally and externally; and no minors after 8pm daily.

Ms Hunter had previously agreed to follow conditions suggested by environmental health.

 

Two Kirklees Council tips will only open five days a week and another will shut down completely