A pub in a busy area of Reading could soon host live music and performances until midnight, with the landlady saying it will help university societies hold their meetings.
The Palmer Tavern in Wokingham Road has been around since the 1870s and was previously called The College Arms, due to its proximity to the University of Reading Whiteknights Campus.
The pub is within walking distance of Palmer Park, and is an area where many university students live in private accommodation.
There are also a number of other food businesses that line the Wokingham Road shopping parade.
A few years ago, it received a £360,000 upgrade from its owning brewery, Greene King, creating a new look both inside and outside, transforming it into the first Nest pub.
Since then, the pub has built a reputation for hosting quizzes and pool tournaments, and is currently showing the football World Cup on TV screens.
The landlady has applied to host live music, play recorded music and performances from 10am until midnight.
Samantha Lane, the landlady, has explained the application has been submitted to Reading Borough Council to enable games societies at the university to continue their activities later.
She said: “This is not necessary for events as such, it’s about making this a place for the students to come and feel safe and not have to go into town.
“I’ve recently started sponsoring three of the uni societies: the pool society, the athletics society and the Bridges XI football team.
“The pub will be the place they hold all their meetings, socials, and awards.
“After their studies, they don’t normally get to meet until 9pm in the evening, so with us having to do last orders at 10.30pm and then out at 11pm it doesn’t leave them much time to hold these gatherings.
“So changing the licensing hours would be a great help in providing that hub for the students, and the same for when we do put on our weekly quiz nights, bingo and when the football season gets underway again.
“It just gives us an extra hour to play with.
“This is not an opportunity to crank up the entertainment but an opportunity to keep on providing a safe hub and meeting place for our students, which is close to the university and their homes.”
The Palmer Tavern is currently open Sunday to Thursday from 12pm to 11pm, with closure at 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.
The application for activities and later hours to cater for the university societies Ms Lane has sponsored is currently under statutory consultation.
You can respond by emailing licensing@reading.gov.uk.
The deadline for representations closes at the end of Wednesday, August 5.
