Panel of councillors called on to decide controversial Ludlow booze licence application
A panel of councillors will be called on to decide a rugby club's application for a new alcohol licence after it was met with a storm of protest.
Ludlow Rugby Football Club has applied to Shropshire Council for public events including the Ludlow Spring and Food Festivals, weddings parties in an external Marquee, car rallies, trade and craft fairs.
The club already has a licence to sell alcohol to members and guests, and to hold indoor dances, and put on live and recorded music. The council says there are no current or historic complaints on the licensing system for the club at The Linney bordering the River Teme.
The club has told the council that it and Ludlow Food Festival are well established and professionally organised and "intend to continue the same way.
"Any exhibitor has to sign to comply with the conditions of the premises licence. The club will liaise with all the responsible authorities to ensure the club and grounds are managed in a professional manner."
They add that illegal drug use or drunkenness will not be tolerated. They plan to used qualified security staff. They are also proposing strict controls of noise, litter and lighting.
They add that they have been approached by Ludlow Spring Festival Spring Festival to hold its events there, which could bring in between 5,000 and 6,000 people.
But objectors aren't convinced. Scores of them have protested to the council over the plans, which are due to be discussed at a meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee on Monday, February 13.
The rugby club sits close to the Riverside Playground and there are residential properties to the East on the Linney and Upper Linney. Residents fear that children will be exposed to alcohol and nearby residents will be forced to live with noise more often during the year. Some of them have called for the club to apply on a case by case basis.
The club has requested to be able to supply alcohol from Monday to Sunday from 8am to 1am, with 2am finishes on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
But there have been 51 representations against the application and 27 in support, believing it will be good for the community.
Ludlow Town Council has also expressed its concerns.
The town council says: "Ludlow Town Council feels the duration of the licensing hours and number of days in week featured in the current application are unreasonable and extremely likely to cause nuisance to the nearby residents.
"Occasional events at the weekend during the daytime or that finish at a reasonable hour before midnight could be acceptable, but numerous weekday or weekend events would not be acceptable because of the noise and nuisance to residents."
The town council adds: "The site is next door to an open-air children’s play area so there should be no overspill of events or guests into the play area in the interests of protecting children from harm.
"The venue is located on a very narrow road and the mix of traffic and pedestrians would need to be managed well for events that end at a fixed time and have large numbers of people or vehicles all leaving at the same time. These type of events should be discouraged unless they are a very occasional occurrence because of risks of disorder, nuisance and public safety posed by high volume of traffic and pedestrians in a narrow, difficult to navigate lane – potentially also in the dark."
But one supporter said: "The rugby club is a wonderful facility that is operated responsibily for the benefit of members and the wider community. It is self evident the application is to support a few events that are vital to generate the income required to run the club."
