Falkirk licensing: Stenhousemuir's Ochilview Bar to open beer garden

Members of Falkirk Council’s licensing board agreed on Wednesday that the Ochilview Bar in Tryst Road could use the area for outdoor drinking.

They also agreed that all children and young people aged under 18 can be on the premises as long as they are with an adult for purposes such as attending functions, watching televised games or waiting for transport to games.

Children will now be allowed to enter all parts of the premises including the new outdoor drinking area, although members heard that will not include the smoking area.

Donna Jenkins told the board that application was about the pub looking to “move forward” and they wanted to be family friendly.

She added that “you can’t ask kids to leave” if they were showing a game on the big screen TV and it went on after 8pm.

Mrs Jenkins added that they had always used the outside area for smoking but were keen to see if it would work as a beer garden.

The area is now split by a partition into smoking and non-smoking areas and there is signage.

When Councillor Lorna Binnie asked if children would have to walk through the smoking area she was told they would, but Mrs Jenkins said she was happy to swap the areas so that would not happen.

The changes agreed also mean that the bar will also be allowed to open from 11 am on a Sunday, an hour earlier than is currently allowed.