Councillors grant Hastings Pier new licences

On April 23, a Hastings Borough Council licensing panel considered a pair of applications from pier owner Sheikh Abid Gulzar, which sought to create new premises licences covering the landmark’s “middle building” — also known as the Rum Shed — and events space.

Officers said the existing licence, which currently covers the whole structure, is also expected to be varied so that it covers the food outlets at the front of the pier. This application for variation has not yet been submitted.

Councillors heard how the new licences would allow for each individual part of the pier to have its own conditions, hours of operation and Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS).

The applications had both seen objections from a group of five residents living in White Rock Gardens who voiced concerns about large events where more than 1,500 tickets would be available for purchase.

Concerns around these events — specifically the provision of medical cover — had been at the heart of a review hearing held in September last year. This hearing, which had been the subject of an unresolved appeal, resulted in the council seeking both to impose new conditions on the existing licence and to remove the pier’s then DPS.

Ellie Baker, one of the White Rock Gardens residents who put in an objection, raised particular concerns around noise levels, highlighting how conditions on the proposed licences would have allowed music from the pier to reach up to 70 decibels (dB) at nearby homes. She said this level of noise would be comparable to a vacuum cleaner.

In granting the licences, councillors amended the condition limiting the maximum level of this bass noise to 65dB.

Speaking on behalf of the pier, Manus Singh, who introduced himself as “Mr Gulzar’s operations manager”, said the business would be open to some form of condition which limited how frequently events could take place.

Mr Singh also stressed the importance of holding the large events for the wider economic health of the pier as a business.

Councillors decided to impose a condition which would prevent events from taking place on consecutive weekends.

They also imposed other conditions which sought to cover smaller events. Collectively, these would require the pier to conduct some form of noise monitoring at all times.

The proposed hours of operation were amended before the hearing, with most of the activities to cease at 11pm. There would be an exception for late night refreshments, i.e. the sale of hot food and drinks after 11pm, which would be able to continue until midnight in both spaces. The middle building would also have slightly longer hours for the sale of alcohol than the event space, being able to serve such drinks until 11.30pm each night.

These activities will mostly commence from 8am for the events space and from 10am for the middle building.

There would also be an exception for events held on New Years’ Eve. On this night, it is proposed, both parts of the venue would be able to conduct their licensable activities — including performances of live music, the sale of alcohol and the sale of late night refreshments — until 2am. This is reduced from a 4.30am finish, sought in the initial applications.