The Licensing Act Sub Committee meeting was held, but the decision regarding the application to vary a premises licence for Upstairs Social was deferred to a later meeting due to a substantial amount of documentation received shortly before the hearing and unresolved issues between the police and the applicant. Councillor Damon Dennis was elected Chairman for the meeting.

Upstairs Social Licence Application

The sub committee considered an application to vary a premises licence in respect of Upstairs Social, 20A Belle Vue, Bude, EX23 8JL. However, due to the late receipt of a substantial amount of documentation, including a 60-page document the day before the hearing, and the fact that issues between the police and the applicant remained unresolved, the committee decided to defer the matter. The Senior Lawyer M Andrews, recommended that the committee defer the matter to allow proper consideration of the new information.

The minutes state:

The Senior Lawyer highlighted the substantial amount of documentation that had been received in the last few working days, including a document of over 60 pages in length the day before the hearing, and that the issues between the Police and the applicant appeared to be unresolved.

The police confirmed that they still had concerns regarding the premises undermining the licensing objectives¹. The applicant, Gavin Ashton, Director of Upstairs Limited, also wished to be legally represented at the hearing.

The Licensing Act Sub Committee agreed to defer the decision to their meeting on 17 December 2025.