Decision due on brewery’s bid to sell alcohol on-site

A brewery’s bid to begin selling alcohol from its premises outside Crowborough are set to go before Wealden councillors next week. 

On Wednesday (August 19), a Wealden District Council licensing panel is expected to consider an application from the Good Things Brewing Company, which is seeking to sell alcohol at its premises at Rendlye Farm, near Boarshead and Eridge.

The brewery is seeking permission to sell alcohol (both online and over the counter) from an on-site store and at a purpose-built tap room.

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In its application, a spokesman for the business said: “We are a small independent craft brewery based on a farm in Eridge, we have our brewery that we built a bar inside of which we have been using under Temporary Event Notice licences to make sure the concept worked.

“Due to Covid and being left with our trade upside down, and with no support from the government via our council, we would like to bring forward our plans to open to the public for both on, off and online shop sales to enable us to stay in business and keep our team employed.

“We currently ship our online sales to Uckfield where we hold an off-licence to fulfil our orders as this was where our business began. 

“However now, in light of the changes, reducing our own traffic and as a sustainable brewery to reduce our impact it is much more viable to move our online sales in house.”

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The proposals, however, have seen objections raised from a number of neighbours, including Bowles Rocks, a children‘s outdoor activity centre which borders the site, and the council’s own development management team.

Many of the objections centre on the fact that the activities applied for in the licence would go beyond conditions placed on the microbrewery’s original planning permission.

While planning conditions sit separately to the licensing process, the conditions imposed limited the hours the business could operate and prohibited retail sales on site.

A spokesman for the trust behind Bowles Rock said: “Let me emphasise on behalf of the trust that it welcomed the establishment of the microbrewery at Rendlye Farm and made no objection to the planning application made.

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“It also welcomed the conditions attached to the permission granted as they secured a situation where a brewery and an outdoor centre catering for primary age children and young people could happily coexist.

“The conditions were imposed both to comply with both national and district planning policies and to protect the amenities of the locality. The trustees cannot see that these objectives have been met.”

Similar concerns were raised by Wealden District Council’s development management team. An officer said: “The planning conditions were applied for sound planning reasons and the proposed extended hours within the licence would generate noise and disturbance to residents who currently enjoy a higher standard of residential amenity.

“It is considered these activities, which breach the terms of the planning permission with retail use and extended hours of operation, cause public nuisance to a level which means this licence should be rejected.”

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Despite this, council papers show that the business has previously secured Temporary Event Notices (TENs) for the sale of alcohol on its premises.

At one of these events on June 11, the papers say, the council received a complaint about people drinking on the premises and gathering in breach of Covid lockdown regulations.  At this time licensed premises were only allowed to supply off-sales and no consumption was allowed at, or in the vicinity of, such premises.

Application documents show the applicant said the event had been busier than expected and had begun turning people away as a result.

Many of the objectors raised concerns about the disturbance from these previous events in their representations.

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A decision on the application is set to be made following a hearing on Wednesday, August 19 where a panel will hear representations from all involved parties.

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