Photo opportunity: Monday 6 June at 11am– Mr Alan Thomson, proprietor of Old Chimneys Brewery, a microbrewery in Market Weston, has recently converted his Personal and Premises Licence with St Edmundsbury Borough Council under the new Licensing Act 2003. He is the first person to have such a licence in St Edmundsbury.
Pubs, nightclubs, take-aways, restaurants, hotels and off-licences are being reminded that they have until 6 August to apply to convert their existing licence(s) following recent changes to licensing laws.
It means that businesses and individuals now have to apply to councils instead of magistrates for their licences. Anyone who has an existing Justices Licence, Public Entertainment Licence, Theatre, Cinema or Late Night Refreshment Licence, will need to apply to St Edmundsbury before 6 August to be sure that licences are determined by the Licensing and Regulatory Committee before the new system goes live, which we expect to be in November
One such person who has already done this is Alan Thomson, owner of a microbrewery in Market Weston. He sent off for an application pack to convert his existing Justices Licence to a Personal and Premises Licence, filled in the form and posted it back to St Edmundsbury in March. As he didn’t want to make any changes to the way his business was operated, he only had to serve a copy of his application to the police before sending it onto St Edmundsbury’s Licensing Unit. Officers were able to determine the application and Mr Thomson recently received his new licence - the first to have such a licence in St Edmundsbury.
If businesses and individuals send us their applications after 6 August, they will lose the benefit known as “Grandfather Rights”. This means that they will have to complete and pay for an accredited training course to qualify for a Personal Licence. For a Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate, businesses will have to post and publish notices on the premises and in a local newspaper and bear the cost of this.
If businesses/individuals have not converted their licence(s) by the time the new system goes live, they will be acting illegally if they continue to provide any of the following licensable activities:
• sale or supply of alcohol;
• provision of regulated entertainment;
• provision of late night refreshment.
If you have not received an application pack or have any questions about what you need to do, please contact the Licensing Unit on 01284 757103 or email licensing@stedsbc.gov.uk. Don’t be put off by the size of the application pack - if you just want to convert your existing licence it is quite simple and we can check the forms for you.
Notes to editors:
Organisations that carry out any of the following activities may be affected by the new laws:
Retail sale and supply of alcohol, including occasional licences and
permissions, for example breweries, supermarkets as well as
restaurants and pubs;
- Performance of a play;
- Exhibition of a film;
- Indoor sporting events;
- Boxing or wrestling events;
- Performing live music;
- Dancing;
- Providing facilities for making music or dancing; and
- Supplying hot food or drink after 11pm until 5am.
Full address for photoshoot: Old Chimneys Brewery, Hopton End Farm, Church Road, Market Weston, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 2NX. We can supply a photo on Tuesday on request.
ENDS
ISSUED BY MARIA STAFF, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757034. maria.staff@stedsbc.gov.uk
