This local newspaper story about an Eastbourne Council licensing officer cancelling a restaurant gig gives a reminder of the unnecessary and disproportionate powers to ban live music which – until an exemption is in place -councils like still have under the 2003 Licensing Act.
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How SMALL-MINDED can you get?
This is pathetic and, sadly, the citizens of Eastbourne are paying for this dunderheaded service!
Geoff
Sadly, it is a standard experience for all licensed venues. At the Vortex we have similar dealings with LB Hackney who are insistent about 10 working days for a temporary entertainment licence application (which we get when we apply for an extension). So the Council takes the £25 for the application and then rejects it, without actually warning in advance!!
Last time I visited Eastbourne there were Morris Dancers in the streets. Way too exciting. I can see their reasoning.
I have no brief for Eastbourne BC, but I think this is a storm in an eggcup. Systems which allow for all possible variants get impossibly complicated. If there is a system requiring applications to be made a given number of working days before the proposed event, it's incumbent on applicants to observe the time limit. If a decision-maker has no power to waive the limit, you can't complain that they apply it. You could see it as procedural fairness and transparency. As someone who loves jazz and has recently objected to licence applications, I want to be able to understand what the rules are. The outcome may be regrettable, but so far as I can see the BC did what they had to do.