Noisy Lobster alcohol licence bid faces 44 objections
THE contentious application by a Mudeford seafront restaurant for the sale of alcohol from its takeaway hatch will be determined next week.
Dozens of people have objected to the Noisy Lobster’s proposals for its the Lobster Hatch concession, saying it would encourage “alcohol-fuelled bad behaviour”, writes Josh Wright of the Local Democracy Service.
But the restaurant’s director, Peter Hayward, said the arrangements had already been trialled before under temporary approvals and had been “a great success”.
As a result of the 44 letters of objection submitted against the licence application, it will be considered by a BCP Council licensing sub-committee on Wednesday.
The application was lodged in March as part of a revamp of its takeaway facility, which has also been renamed from All Things Fish to the Lobster Hatch.
It proposes allowing alcohol to be sold from it from 11am to 9pm each day on top of the existing food offering.
“By using temporary event notices, All Things Fish has sold alcohol on the weekends in the summer holidays for the past five years,” the application said. “This has been a great success without harming any licensing objectives.”
But the proposal has drawn significant opposition from people living near Avon Beach who say the change will exacerbate issues of “alcohol-fuelled bad behaviour”.
“To extend this beyond the premises of the Noisy Lobster would lead to anti-social behaviour, an increase in littering and there would be no controllable supervision who consumes the alcohol and to what extent,” one of the objections said.
“There are no premises along the BCP coastline where alcohol can be sold as a takeaway option and it would be very inappropriate to allow this in this case and against BCP’s practise.
"It would set a dangerous precedent.”
They have been joined by Mudeford, Stanpit and West Highcliffe ward councillor Paul Hilliard who said “encouraging all-day drinking”, in combination with the beach location, “could lead to increased crime and disorder”.
No objection has been made by Dorset Police after it agreed with the restaurant to add several conditions requiring CCTV provision to the proposed licence.
The application will be considered at Wednesday’s licensing sub-committee meeting.
