Community centre awarded licence expansion

A community centre has been given permission to extend its licence despite objections from a parish council over "morality and nuisance" concerns.

Red Lodge Millennium Centre near Newmarket, Suffolk, applied to expand its range of events as well as its opening hours up until 01:00 for some activities.

Red Lodge Parish Council objected stating "adult-only events" would be "inappropriate for a building which is identified as a community centre".

West Suffolk Council approved the application and a spokesperson for the centre said they were pleased by the decision.

"We are absolutely delighted the licensing panel saw sense," they said.

The centre, which is a charity, sought to expand its allowed activities to include plays, films and indoor sporting events such as boxing or wrestling. It also wanted to increase its opening hours from 08:00 every day up to 23:00 or 01:00, depending on the event, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The plans, however, received backlash from Red Lodge Parish Council members, who said the council should object to the application on the grounds of public nuisance, immoral purposes and it being a substantial variation to the existing licensed activities - of these, only the nuisance issues were within the scope of the committee.

The parish council’s objection stated: "The Millennium Centre charity hosts entertainment which is inappropriate for a building, which is identified as a community centre, such as striptease shows which could be regarded as offensive and beer festivals which are not appropriate for a community centre either and promote an undesirable culture.

"These events are inappropriate to be held in a building owned and associated with local government.

"The variation of the licence would negatively impact the village of Red Lodge in numerous ways, which negate any benefits that this variation may offer."

A spokesperson for the centre described the parish council's objection as "ludicrous".

Before the meeting, the centre agreed to several conditions recommended by Suffolk Police and the council’s environmental health team, including the installation and maintenance of CCTV cameras, a policy of challenging anyone buying alcohol for identification if they look under 25, and mandatory training for staff selling alcohol.

Other conditions included keeping doors and windows closed during events, directing outdoor speakers away from the closest receptors and including clear signage requesting attendees to respect the needs of residents.

Councillors were told parish council members were made aware of the acceptance of these conditions, but did not withdraw their objection.

Committee members were satisfied the conditions offered proper mitigation and stressed there had been no official complaints submitted to West Suffolk Council against the centre.

Members said serious consideration had been given to the parish council’s representation and, after some discussion, decided to allow the licence expansion subject to conditions.

The new licence will replace the previous two licences which applied to the bar area and the rest of the premises separately.

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