On Monday evening members of the Licensing Committee met to consider a request by De Vere Venues for an extension of alcohol hours at the Gorse Hill hotel and conference centre on Hook Heath Road. At present the hotel is licensed to serve alcohol up to 11pm. De Vere submitted an application to increase this to 2am on every night of the week. Permission was also sought to remove some of the conditions attached to the license, which limits Gorse Hill to providing refreshments only to guests and those attending a conference or event at the venue.

The application was quite contentious with around forty letters of objection received from members of the public. Most representations centred on what was believed to be an ongoing problem with public nuisance arising from patrons leaving the premises shortly before midnight. Residents complained about general bad behaviour by De Vere guests including urinating in driveways near the hotel, minor damage being caused to parked cars, the theft of signs and dustbins from neighbouring front gardens, and loud talking and arguing on the street for several hours after closing time. The situation was complicated by the fact that many of these issues have not historically been reported to the police or the council’s environmental health team, making it difficult to judge the scale of the problem.

The committee was mindful of arguments on both sides, and it was felt that keeping the existing conditions to the license would reassure those who feared that the nature of Gorse Hill would change from a conference venue area to a pub which would admit all comers late into the night. However, we also believed that for a venue offering weddings and overnight events, the current limit 10pm limit on alcohol was too restrictive. Given the real concerns about noise and disruption, the committee felt that 2am was unreasonable for a venue in a quiet residential area such as Hook Heath. It was therefore agreed that the alcohol hours be extended from 11pm to midnight, but only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

In making this decision, I recommended to members of the Hook Heath Residents’ Association, many of whom were in attendance at the meeting, that they should reach out and build dialogue with De Vere so that future problems can be addressed amicably. Serious cases of disorder or anti-social behaviour should be reported to the police since this will inform any future review of the venue’s licensing hours.

A meeting of Woking Borough Council’s Licensing Committee last week decided against introducing an additional charge on licensed premises in the borough which serve alcohol after midnight.

Under powers granted to local authorities under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, councils have the right to impose a charge, known as a late night levy, on pubs and nightclubs that operate into the early hours of the morning, with any money collected being split with the police and used to cover the costs associated with late night drinking.

The council also has the power to issue an Early Morning Restriction Order, which would apply retrospectively to all licensed premises and prohibit alcohol sales after a chosen hour.

The Licensing Committee has voted to recommend to the Executive that neither a late night levy nor an Early Morning Restriction Order are introduced in Woking at present. This is because of the relatively small number of establishments likely to be affected, and the fact that the sums raised would be small. Any money collected needs to be split with 70% going to Surrey Police and only 30% going to the council. Most councillors agreed that the imposition of a late night levy would be an extra tax on the pub trade at a time when it is already struggling in the current economic climate. Concerns were also raised that declaring an Early Morning Restriction Order would be arbitrary, suggest there is a problem with out of control binge drinking and anti-social behaviour in Woking, and drive patrons to neighbouring boroughs such as Guildford.

Out of more than three hundred councils in the country, only ten are considering a late night levy so it was agreed no action would be taken at present, and that it would be best to monitor the situation in the town centre and learn from the experience of other councils before revisiting the use of these powers in the future.

Last night Woking Borough Council’s Licensing Committee considered a report prepared by the Taxi Trade Working Group on the council’s emission standards and vehicle replacement policy for licensed taxis. The Licensing Committee appointed myself, Cllr Anne Murray and Cllr Ken Howard to the Task Group in June to investigate concerns raised by the taxi trade about the introduction of the Euro 5 emission standards and NCAP 5 safety rating for all licensed taxis from 6th January 2014.

The Task Group held a public consultation throughout September and met earlier this month to consider the representations it received, as well as a petition submitted to the council by Cllr Muzzafar Ali which requested a two year delay before the new requirements were introduced.

After a lengthy discussion and having looked at all the evidence, the Task Group has recommended that the decision to bring in Euro 5 in January 2014 should stay in force, but said drivers who do need to change vehicles before the deadline should beneift from that purchase for longer. The Task Group has therefore suggested that the introduction of more stringent Euro 6 standards, originally scheduled for 2018, be pushed back to January 2022. The Task Group will also be recommending that the mandatory CO2 charge that drivers need to pay to fund green projects in the borough be scrapped and replaced with a voluntary levy.

The report received strong support from the Licensing Committee and from the Conservative portfolio holder and Liberal Democrat shadow portfolio holder. The committee approved the Task Group’s recommendation by eight votes, with two abstentions. Our report will now go to the Executive for final approval in November.