Purpose

Application for a New Premises Licence under
the Licensing Act 2003

Content

 
Licensing Panel
(Licensing Act 2003 Functions) - Notification of the Determination
of Panel.
 
Licensing panel
hearing held virtually via Teams on Monday 10th February 2025 in
respect of the application for a new Club Premises Certificate for
Hove & Kingsway Bowling Club, Hove and Kingsway Bowls
Clubhouse, Outdoor Sports Hub, Kingsway, Hove BN3 4GP
 
The panel has read the report including the
relevant representations and has had regard to the Statement of
Licensing Policy (SoLP) and the statutory guidance and has listened
carefully to all the submissions made today.
 
This is an application for a new Club Premises
Certificate. The application seeks to enable Hove & Kingsway
Bowling Club (‘the Club’) to operate its club
activities from the new club house situated a short distance from
the previous premises. The application has been amended to reduce
the hours in line with planning requirements. The applicant has
agreed to additional conditions from Environmental Protection and
these are in the papers. The police are happy with the conditions
offered subject to a minor amendment. The premises are not within
the Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ) or Special Stress Area (SSA).
Eleven representations were received from
local residents and the director of the freehold of Fairlawns on
behalf of the leaseholders. The representations had concerns
relating to the prevention of public nuisance. They were
particularly concerned about the prospect of music outside as they
had had cause to complain about the previous club operation in this
respect. Some considered the hours applied for to be excessive.
 
The applicant’s representative stated
that this application should be considered on its own merits and
was not a review of the previous certificate. He considered there
was little evidence provided of public nuisance. He pointed to the
fact that neither Environmental Protection or the Police had made a
representation. Conditions were offered that addressed relevant
concerns, notably those around music. It was stressed that all
music would be played indoors and conditions stated that doors and
windows would be kept closed, save for access and egress.
 
The panel has considered this application on
its merits. It has taken into full consideration the concerns
raised by the residents which it appreciates are strongly felt. It
is clear that there were concerns about the activities of the club
under the previous certificate and that there has been a breakdown
in relations between residents and the club.
 
However this application must be considered on
its merits. A key factor is that there will be no music played
outside and there are robust agreed conditions around noise, in
particular that no noise or vibration shall emanate from the
premises that gives rise to a nuisance. The hours have also been
reduced from those originally applied for and the applicant has met
all the requirements of the responsible authorities.
 
The panel is therefore granting the
application with all the relevant conditions attached which will
promote the licensing objectives as well as the mandatory
conditions that apply to Club Premises Certificates regarding off
sales. The panel hopes that the club will work to foster better
relations with its neighbours, which has not been the case to date.
It advises setting up meetings, for example quarterly, with
residents so that any issues can be discussed. Ultimately there is
a power of review of the certificate if problems cannot be
resolved.
 
The minutes of the panel will be available on
the Council’s website under the rubric ‘Council and
Democracy’.