This page provides information and guidance to persons who may wish to make representations against an application for a new premises licence or variation to a premises licence or club premises certificate on how to make that representation to the Licensing Authority.

Please Note:

This is an advisory document. Stroud District Council does not accept any responsibility whatsoever for loss sustained in reliance on anything contained within the document. Nothing in this document is intended to negate the responsibilities of any person in respect of relevant legislation and standard of care.

The contents of these pages are provided as an information guide only. They are not a full and authoritative statement of the law and do not constitute professional or legal advice. Any statements on these pages do not replace, extend, amend or alter in any way the statutory provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 or any other legislation made under it or statutory guidance issued in relation to it.

Whilst the Council has made every effort to ensure that the information in these pages is correct and accurate the Council accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or misleading statements on these or linked pages.

Introduction

The Licensing Act 2003 enables 'Interested Parties' such as residents and businesses in the vicinity of the premises or club applying for a new licence or variation to a licence or certificate to make 'relevant representations'.

Interested Parties will be made aware of applications through notices displayed at the premises/club in question and through the public notice placed in the local newspaper by the applicant. These notices must include relevant information relating to the application and information indicating where the full application details can be viewed, together with information on to whom representations should be sent and the dates between which representations can be made.

For a representation to be relevant it must:

• be made by an 'interested party'; (see below)
• not have been withdrawn;
• if made by an interested party, must not be 'repetitious, frivolous or vexatious' and
• be received by the Licensing Authority within the statutory time limits. (see below)
• relate to one or more of the licensing objectives.

The four Licensing Objectives are:

• The Prevention of Public Nuisance
• Public Safety
• The Prevention of Crime and Disorder
• The Protection of Children from Harm

An 'Interested party' is any of the following:

• a person living in the vicinity of the premises;
• a body representing persons who live in that vicinity; (Parish/Town Council, Residents Association)
• a person involved in a business in the vicinity of the premises;
• a body representing persons involved in these businesses.(i.e. Chamber of Commerce, Pub Watch, Association of Convenience Stores etc.)

Representations must be in writing and may be made at any time during the 28-day period starting on the day following the day on which the application was given to the Licensing Authority. In the case of a closure order issued by the Police, representations may be made during the seven day period that follows the notice being given to the Licensing Authority by the Magistrates Court, starting on the day after the day the notice was received.

If a relevant representation is made, the Licensing Authority must hold a hearing to consider the representation(s), unless all parties agree by giving a notice in writing that they consider a hearing is unnecessary. (Section 18(3)(a) Licensing Act 2003)

If a hearing is held all relevant parties will be given the opportunity to attend that hearing and invited to comment at the hearing on their representation, but they may if they wish choose to rely on their written representation.

Any person or body that makes a representation will have the opportunity to attend any subsequent hearing relating to that representation before the Licensing committee.

For the purposes of effective administration of the licensing hearing, where there are a number of representations or where there are repetitive representations on a common theme, the council may ask for a spokesperson to be selected from amongst those making representations to present the comments to the committee. Your individual written representations will still be presented to the committee.

If you wish to withdraw any representations you may do so confirming this in writing, providing you do so no later than 24 hours before any hearing, or otherwise orally at the hearing.

Appeals

Anyone who feels aggrieved by the decision of the Licensing Authority has a right of appeal to the Magistrates Court.

Representation Forms

Representation forms are now available to download in two different formats. Please use this link to view the forms that are relevant to you in the format (PDF or Word) that you wish to use:

PDF  Interested Party Representation Form - 02/06/2005 : 83Kb
DOC  Interested Party Representation Form (Word doc) - 26/04/2005 : 189Kb

More information on the Licensing Act 2003 is available on the Department of media, Culture and Sport web site at www.culture.gov.uk or from;

The Licensing Section, Environmental Health Service, Stroud District Council, Council Offices, Ebley Mill, Westward Road, Stroud, Glos. GL5 4UB
Phone: 01453 754440
Email: licensing@stroud.gov.uk