The Licensing Act 2003 allows the views of people who live, or are involved in a business in our area, to be taken into account:
- when someone applies for a new premises licence
- when an existing premises licence is varied
- when a licence has been issued and problems are occurring
To object to an application for a licence, you must either email or write to us. Explain why you are objecting and include your address so we can tell you about any related meetings.
Your objection must relate to one or more of the following:
- the prevention of crime and disorder
- public safety
- the prevention of public nuisance
- the protection of children from harm
We advise that you make detailed notes of any incidents at the premises and speak with the relevant authority responsible. This evidence will be useful when you contact us with your objection.
Reviewing your representation
Once you have submitted your comments to us, the letter or email will become a public document. It will be sent to the premises licence applicant and/or their solicitors. It will also be included in the report that is written for the Licensing Committee Hearing, of which a copy is provided to local newspapers as standard and is available to any member of the public. In the past, local newspapers have quoted sections from the Licensing Committee Report in articles and extracted parts of objection letters and emails.
Therefore, it is advisable that you only provide details that you are happy to be published and viewed by other parties.
Anonymous representation
It is not usually possible to make representations anonymously except in exceptional and isolated circumstances. This is because we need to be certain that it is a serious objection.
However, if you fear there may be repercussions if you submit a representation to an application (for example if there are fears of intimidation and violence), you would need to contact us first to discuss your worries and explain the situation.
Object to an existing licence
Any person who lives, or is involved in a business in our area may apply for a review of a licence that is in force.
This is a more formal process to making a representation. You must submit a detailed application about the problems you are experiencing at the premises and copies of the application must be served on the premises licence holder and all the responsible authorities.
The review must be relevant to one or more of the licensing objectives and it will be rejected if it is not. You are not able to apply for a review anonymously.
Before applying, you may want to consider whether your concerns could be dealt with outside the formal review process. This could involve:
- talk ingto the licensee or certificate holder to determine whether there are any steps they may be willing to take to rectify the situation
- asking the licensing department to talk to the licensee on your behalf (contact us)
- asking your local MP or Councillor to speak to the licensee on your behalf
- talking to the relevant “responsible authority” (for example, Environmental Protection in relation to noise nuisance, or to the police in relation to crime and disorder) to determine whether there is other legislation that could help resolve the issue
