I feel like having a bloody good moan up. Some people in this country make me sick. They waste taxpayers’ money, are ignorant of the law and can be rude and abusive. No, I’m not talking about feral youths, but some members of Middle England who object to licensing applications.

Please don’t get me wrong. Many objections (representations) made to licensing applications are perfectly valid. There are often legitimate concerns that should be raised and, after all, it is only if representations are made and maintained that the application will be scrutinised by an independent licensing sub-committee. I have no problem with members of the public advancing such concerns and entering into reasoned debate. My issue is with local residents who object to applications without regard to what is being sought and by whom. It is exasperating when, despite full disclosure of what is being proposed, representations are received to applications which seek changes which would be nothing but a blessing to the local community. Recent applications I have made which have received such representations include a variation to an existing premises licence to convert a pub with sticky carpets into an up market café and the extension of a fine dining restaurant’s outside area by two small tables. Both applications received representations which did little but to bemoan ‘binge drinking Britain’ and cast aspersions on the operators by suggesting that they would no doubt be seeking to convert the premises in question into ‘vertical drinking’ establishments. Not only were the letters bordering on the offensive but as licensing authorities are notoriously cautious when deciding whether to reject representations on the grounds of irrelevance the applications had to proceed to an expensive and time consuming sub-committee hearing. Whereas it is usually possible to negotiate the withdrawal of representations from the statutory authorities, it is rare that a local resident withdraws their objection. 

So what can be done? It needs local authorities to be more proactive in refusing irrelevant representations at any early stage and to only permit representations which relate to the likely effect of the grant of the licence on the promotion of one or more of the licensing objectives. Whilst admittedly some Councils do this already, others remain overly cautious for fear of being judicially reviewed. The trouble with such a cautious approach is that it ends up wasting time and money in any event, as the application proceeds to a hearing.