Council ends consultation on new licensing policy after discovery of error

The London Borough of Hackney is proposing to re-adopt its current licensing policy, which was due to expire in January 2016, after an error was discovered in the consultation document for an updated draft policy.

The council’s consultation on a new policy began in May and was due to close tomorrow (14 August).

The council described the error in the document as “minor” but has now proposed to hold a new consultation in 2016 as well as a high-profile public debate on the borough’s night time economy.

The council’s licensing committee will consider the recommendation first. The proposal will then go before full council in the autumn.

Cllr Emma Plouviez, Licensing Chair at Hackney Council, said: “Unfortunately there was a minor error in the published consultation document. Although this was not related to the part of the consultation affecting nightclub opening hours, which is what we know has caused the most concern, we want to ensure that everyone who takes the time to respond to any council consultation can have confidence that they did so with the full facts.

“We needed to decide whether to correct the mistake and extend the current consultation, or take the opportunity to take a step back and re-consult on a new draft policy that we hope both residents and businesses will be able to support.”

Cllr Plouviez added: “Hackney’s creative and night time economy is famous worldwide and brings valuable investment and employment into the borough, but first and foremost Hackney is a place for people to live. Balancing the needs of the night time economy with the rights of our residents to live in a peaceful and safe environment is one of the biggest challenges facing our borough.

“We want to reach a resolution that does just this, so we’re going to be asking residents and businesses to join in an open discussion on where we go from here. We have already met with residents and business groups, but it’s clear we need to listen further to all voices and opinions, and we plan to host a debate on this later in the autumn.

“We hope that residents, visitors and businesses will join us to help shape a licensing policy for Hackney, which everyone can understand and get behind.”

Commenting, Jonathan Smith, a partner at licensing law firm Poppleston Allen, said the consultation document had included a proposal to increase Hackney’s Shoreditch Special Policy Area, where there is a policy presumption that new premises licence and full variation applications will be refused unless they can demonstrate that the proposal will not add to cumulative impact in the area.

“In addition, there was a proposal to introduce a borough-wide hours policy, with rebuttable suggested maximum terminal hours depending on the type of premises and its location in the borough,” he said.