Manchester City Council - New cumulative impact policy consultation - Friday 15th June 2012

Manchester City Council has issued a consultation document regarding proposals to adopt a cumulative impact policy for areas of Fallowfield, Withington and Wilmslow Road.  The Council's Licensing Policy Committee has accepted evidence of crime, disorder and nuisance caused by customers of licensed premises and intends to adopt a policy to create a presumption that applications for new Premises Licences, variations etc will be refused unless the applicant can show granting the application would have no negative cumulative impact.

In practice this means that it will be very difficult to obtain a new Licence or an extension of hours in these areas after the policy has been amended to incorporate the cumulative impact provisions.  Operators with "redundant" licences would be well advised to hold on to them, as they may have some surrender value in future.  Operators considering new or variation applications should act NOW before the policy comes into force.

The deadline for responding to the policy consultation is 24th August 2012.  Whilst the consultation responses could in theory persuade the Council not to adopt the policy, in reality it will be adopted with some possible tinkering with the area boundaries.  Licensing in Fallowfield (which has never been easy due to the strength of residential pressure group objections) is about to get a lot more complicated.

A link to the consultation document will be provided shortly and a hard copy can be requested by e-mail from premises.licensing@manchester.gov.uk 

Richard Williams - LR Law Licensing Solicitors