A PUB in Henley could lose its licence after complaints from residents about the noise.
Members of Stratford District’s Council’s Licensing Panel will review The Nag’s Head’s licence when they meet on Tuesday (March 14), with one of the options on the table being to shut the pub down.
SDC’s Lead Environmental Protection Officer applied to review the pub’s licence in January, on the grounds the premises had been creating a public nuisance since it converted part of its car park into a beer garden and event space last summer.
A consultation period followed when evidence was collected and interested parties were contacted, including the premises licence holder MDS Warwick Ltd.
The officer states in a report to be presented to the licensing panel that it is his belief that the rear garden of the premises in High Street is “not suitable for regulated entertainment so close to domestic dwellings and is unsuitable for outdoor amplified entertainment and recorded music”.
He recommends that live and recorded music should now only take place inside the premises.
He requests that the provisions of the Licence Music Act 2012 are disapplied, while the premises licence should also be reviewed on the basis of alleged breaches of public nuisance and crime and disorder.
Evidence in the form of sound recordings of noise levels outside the pub, still video images, moving video imagery, and further documentary evidence will be presented to councillors.
A Fire Officer from Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service also found alleged shortcomings in the management of the premises related to public safety.
Nine letters of complaint have been received from residents who live in close proximity to the premises.
One such resident, living 50 metres from the pub, submitted a letter saying the outdoor speaker had become “the bane of their lives”.
She continued they had been unable to sit in their garden when the weather permitted and they were even unable to hear their own music and TV while sitting just metres from them.
There have been 45 representations in favour of The Nag’s Head and supporting the way the premises carry out its business.
One such representation from a customer states he was “taken aback” to hear the premises licence was being reviewed.
He continued: “The business is extremely well run, respected in its community and is an essential local business in helping to keep Henley thriving as a local economy. To remove the licence would, in my opinion, have a significant detrimental effect to the local economy and would be entirely unjust.”
Options available to the Licensing Panel include – to modify the conditions of the licence, to include additional conditions to the licence, to suspend the licence for a period not exceeding three months, to revoke the licence, to take no action or to issue an informal warning and to recommend improvements within a particular period of time.
The premises licence holder has a right to appeal any decision made by the Licensing Panel within 21 days.
