Licensing System not Working

Recent applications for temporary licences have exposed deep flaws in the planning and licensing laws, says Cllr Julie Morris, leader of the opposition on Epsom & Ewell Borough Council.

Whereas the public expects the Planners, the Licensing Department and the Police to work together, current legislation requires Planning and Licensing to be considered in such an independent manner, that applicants are apparently trying to use one to override the other, with the Council hamstrung in its attempts to do anything to protect town centre residents. Some already suffer from noise and anti-social behaviour into the early hours at weekends. Using the system in this way could allow opening hours to ratchet up towards 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Cllr Morris cites a recent application for a temporary licence over Christmas by a food outlet in the town centre that wants to open until 3am. The same establishment has had planning permission to open until this time refused. The Police are the only authority that can object to a temporary licence and they have given the go ahead for opening until 3am, even though planning permission was refused. The applicant can apply for up to 12 temporary licences a year, so on this basis they could open until 3am one day a month, although this would breach their planning consent.

There's also a submission by another establishment to the council's licensing department for a permanent licence until 3am, even though they've just been refused planning permission by the council to operate until 3am. Because decisions about licences are legally separate from the hours of operation in a planning permission, theoretically it could be granted. The applicant could then take the calculated risk of operating until 3am, because the cost to the council of prosecuting for breach of the planning decision outweighs the £1000 fine which would result. It seems there is no provision for the Council to reclaim their costs.

Cllr Morris says "I am the first person to support town centre businesses, but with an ever-increasing density of residents living in the centre of town, what about their right to be able to sleep? Some businesses operate until 2am and most have been refused when they've asked for 3am, apart from a few which benefit from old planning conditions. By gaining a licence until 3am or using the temporary licence system, these establishments could be tempted to ignore the decisions made by councillors who have said "no" to 3am. Actually, even 2am becomes 3am because of the time it takes for the youngsters to disperse, so a licence until 3am will mean that it's not peaceful until 4am. I don't think that's acceptable. The Planning Committee is doing its best - now we need the Police and the Licensing Department to uphold those decisions. But the way the current laws are framed certainly isn't helping."