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V27-1504 : BROWN BOAT SUITE, WHERRY HOTEL, OULTON BROAD

PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT LICENCE NO. 21 - VARIATION OF HOURS TO 2.00AM FINISH

The report of the Chief Executive outlined an application from The Wherry Hotel to vary the hours of their Public Entertainment Licence for the Brown Boat Suite on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to a 2.00am finish and on Sundays to a 12 midnight finish.

There were several ongoing complaints about The Wherry Hotel, all relating to loud music emanating from the Brown Boat Suite, and noise monitoring by the Council's Environmental Health out-of-hours service showed the noise had the potential to cause complaints, especially during the Summer months.

A number of letters had also been received from nearby residents opposing any further extension of hours from the Wherry Hotel. Advice from Suffolk Constabulary was that Local Authorities should take the views of the Environmental Health Officers and the number of complaints received from residents into account when making their decision on the application.

Due to the likelihood of further late night noise complaints, and adverse effects on the amenity of residents, the Chief Executive recommended refusal of the application, in accordance with the Council's adopted policy.

In order that the management of the Wherry felt they had received a fair hearing, members agreed to suspend Standing Orders to allow them to put their case before the Panel.

RESOLVED

1. That Standing Orders be suspended for the management of the Wherry Hotel to put their case in requesting a variation to the hours of their Public Entertainment Licence.

Mr Manners, the Manager of the Wherry, advised members that he had read the report and its recommendations. From the Wherry's point of view there had long been a problem of unfair trading advantages of premises in Yarmouth and Norwich which had longer opening hours. Customers had been filtering out of Waveney for some time, and Mr Manners felt that to further segregate Oulton Broad from the premises in Lowestoft which had been granted an extension to 2am closing would be detrimental to all the businesses in Oulton Broad.

The fact that there were more complaints from residents of Oulton Broad than from other areas of Lowestoft was because Oulton Broad had a well organised residents association. There had been emphasis on the lack of CCTV in Oulton Broad, which was present in the locations of some extended premises, but this simply showed that CCTV was not necessary in Oulton Broad.

When asked about door supervisor provision, Mr Manners said that up to eight were on the premises at any one time, and remained there until 45 minutes after closing. These supervisors had no jurisdiction outside the premises, however, so could not assist in keeping order in the neighbouring vicinity. Also, any disturbance at 1am or 2am could just as easily occur at an earlier hour.

Other good points about a later finish time were that there would be a steady stream of customers leaving the premises between 12 midnight and 2am rather than one mass exodus, and people did not tend to drink much more simply because the premises were open later. This had been shown on the occasions when the Brown Boat Suite had received occasional late licences.

After Mr Manners had stated his case, the Chief Executive outlined the Council's policy on the granting of licences to 2am, and the applications which had been decided so far, including a refusal for premises in Oulton Broad due to loss of residential amenity. The application for the Wherry Hotel did not differ a great deal from this application, and the Chief Executive recommended refusal.

The Director of Housing and Environmental Services advised that during out-of-hours monitoring significant noise had been noted emanating from the premises, audible for some distance, mainly from amplified music.

The Chief Executive asked members to bear in mind that should they refuse the application, it would be likely to have a detrimental effect on the viability of the Wherry Hotel. On the other hand, there were more than sufficient grounds for refusal.

Going by the evidence before them members were minded to refuse the application, although they were keen to ensure that discussions were held with the management of the Wherry to attempt to resolve the problems with noise, and thus significantly reduce the number of complaints received. This may enable the Panel to look more favourably on a future application.

RESOLVED

2. That the Brown Boat Suite, Wherry Hotel be refused a variation to their Annual Public Entertainment Licence on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights to 2.00am and Sundays to 12 midnight on the grounds that it is likely to lead to further late night noise complaints and adversely affect the amenities of the residents in and around this predominately residential area.


Volume 27 Minute 1504

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