08/09/2026
A licensing hearing has been held for the Middle of the Road Cafe in Morriston, as the owner seeks permission to add alcohol, live music and later hours to the converted church venue 🍻
⛪ The cafe operates inside the former St John's Church, a Grade II-listed building on a roundabout at the junction of Woodfield Street and Morfydd Street. Owner Andrew Shipley bought the church around 15 years ago and spent over a decade working through planning permission before it reopened as a cafe, gallery and flats.
📋 The new application would allow live and recorded music, dance performances, late-night refreshments and alcohol sales, with hours proposed to run until midnight most days.
🚗 Much of the discussion centred on the site's unusual location on a roundabout. Council members and a highways representative raised concerns about the external seating area sitting close to the road, including the risk of patrons climbing over the boundary wall in a busy traffic spot. Shipley pushed back on the safety concerns, telling the committee: "By design, a roundabout is the safest place to cross. We may not think that instinctively, but there's plenty of science and traffic research which shows that."
🔊 On noise, Shipley pointed to the building's track record, saying: "The church has been used for live entertainment in the past. Certainly within the last 12 months, we've used it for live entertainment. We haven't had one complaint."
🏗️ He framed the venue as part of the wider regeneration of Morriston, saying: "We see ourselves as very much being part of the Morriston regeneration. We believe in St John's, and we know that if we build something there that's quirky and different, there are many examples [of that working]."
⚖️ The committee has gone into recess to consider the application, with a decision expected within five working days.
Source: Swansea Council (Statutory Licensing Sub-Committee, 4th September 2026)
