Committee adds conditions as pub chain’s alcohol licence is granted
Wetherspoon's, Warehouse Clearance, St Ives, - Credit: Archant
An application to serve alcohol at the new JD Wetherspoon pub in St Ives has been granted by Huntingdonshire District Council.
The premises licence, heard by the licensing sub-committee on September 15, will see alcohol served every day from 9am until midnight, and until 1am on Friday and Saturday.
However, concerns were raised about opening hours, early selling of alcohol, and glass bottle collection, prompting a series of conditions to be set alongside the final decision.
“I think you’ve got a great opportunity here to get the right conditions to avoid the problems,” Mark Shaw, a resident of St Ives, told the panel.
As part of the agreement, all entrances and exits must be staffed on Fridays, Saturdays, and days where additional hours have been requested like Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.
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Chairman of the meeting, Councillor Ryan Fuller, also said the beer garden will close at 9pm each day and no open drinks are permitted outside the pub or in the garden.
He added that glass collection from the beer garden must be done by 9.30pm to help protect neighbours from noise.
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“I found it staggering that an offer of door staff for a Friday and Saturday is not [already] included,” said Mr Shaw.
“I think given it’s location it’s more important than other pubs in St Ives that you have doormen on Fridays and Saturdays.”
Representatives from Wetherspoon also agreed to push back their opening hour from 7am to 8am, but refused to do the same with their 9am start for alcohol sales.
Deborah Hay, in-house solicitor for the pub chain, said: “We live in a very different world and people work shifts and have a pint on the way home. There is no evidence of disorder at that time in the morning.”
Residents were also told that external extraction fans would be fitted with silencers, and that signs alerting people to the 9pm closing time in the beer garden would be put up.
Following the meeting, Louise Shaw said: “[The outcome is] partially good and [we’re] partially a little bit disappointed, I think the hours could have been less and more reflective of a small market town.”
It is not known when the site, in Market Hill, will start being developed.
