The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

The Hearing Panel considered a report from the Directorof Planning, Building Control and Licensing concerning the above application.  The written papers and oral representations of the parties who attended were also considered, as well as the relevant legislation.

The applicant’s agent addressed the Hearing Panel and stated that an objection had been received from a nearby street which did not have a view of the beergarden for which the licence request was placed. There were around 65 residents in the vicinity of the premises and only 5 objections. The applicant was J W Lees brewery who were now run by the seventh generation of the family. The Red Lion pub was acquired from Marstons’s in 2020 where the current Manager was then in post. Marston’s lost interest in the pub and the clientele was younger, cheap alcohol was on sale and live sports were shown. Many of the representation will have based on the previous operations at the pub. J W Lees had refurbished the premises, attracted a different clientele (families and workers at nearby Christies Hospital) and removed sporting events. 1 resident remained unchanged in their complaints about the running of the premise and efforts had been made on numerous occasions for them to engage with staff but they had not complied and were not at the hearing today. The most recent complaint was about loud music in June 2023 which transpired was coming from a neighbour watching the Glastonbury festival in their garden. Sean, the current General Manager, has previously run a premises in Lancaster with an outdoor bar. The Red Lion team are upset by the representations against their application and would like objectors to understand that they wish to manage their pub efficiently. The plan is to alleviate pressure on staff who currently take orders from customers seated outside, then have to come to the indoor bar to have drinks prepared before going back out to the bergarden area again. The outdoor bar would alleviate this and would only be in use in good weather. Previous TENs to use the outdoor bar had been called off due to bad weather which made the point on it’s future use. It was already lawful practice for customers to order and drink alcohol in the outdoor area but the current licence did not permit the sale of alcohol outdoors. The outdoor bar would be supervised and monitored at all times. There was no rowdy, loutish behaviour at the premises and the one report of a fight was a disagreement between two brothers who were excorted off the premises. Councillor Wills (for Withington Ward) had discussed matters with other Ward Councillors and agreed that, save for smokers, the outdoor area would be closed to patrons at 23:00 and no drinks would be allowed outside after this hour. Currently, patrons were allowed in the outdoor area until midnight. Any customer displaying bad behaviour could be removed and barred. J W Lees seek to maintain good behaviour in their establishments. There was an objection to the initial soft opening and this objector did not attend. The premises would host a residents forum for any views to be expressed. In closing, J W Lees ran other premises with beer gardens next to residential areas and it was considered that many in the community would be happy with the changes implemented by the J W Lees team at The Red Lion.

Decision

To grant the application as applied for with the additional condition that the grassed area/bowling green would not form part of the licensed area.