A SOCIAL democratic club and institute in Merthyr Tydfil wants to be able to open until half past midnight from Mondays to Saturdays.
Merthyr Vale and Aberfan Social Democratic Club and Institute in Aberfan Road, Aberfan, has applied for a new premises licence which would allow the sale of alcohol and indoor sporting events from 11am to midnight from Monday to Saturday and from 12pm to 11.30pm on Sunday.
It would allow live and recorded music and films indoors from 11am to 11.30pm from Monday to Friday and from 12pm to 11.30pm on Saturday and Sunday.
And it would allow opening hours of 11am to 12.30am from Monday to Saturday and from 12pm to midnight on Sunday.
The club currently holds a club premises certificate which means it is currently entitled to remain open until midnight on Sunday.
After receiving an objection from a resident to the application on the grounds of outdoor music causing a noise nuisance it was identified that, even though the applicant had applied for outdoor live and recorded music, the Live Music Act 2012 and related legislation meant the club was entitled to provide live and recorded music outdoors for audiences of 500 people or fewer between the hours of 8am and 11pm without needing specific permission under a premises licence.
The applicant changed their initial proposal and removed the outdoor live and recorded music from their application so the licensing committee report said the resident’s objection relating to live and recorded music outdoors was no longer relevant.
A second resident objection was also in relation to outdoor music, music emanating from open doors, and opening hours until midnight on a Sunday.
Again the report said that under the Live Music Act 2012 and related legislation the live and recorded music cannot be objected to and remains an existing entitlement of the club so this part of their objection was not relevant but the objection to the opening hours remains.
A letter was sent to the resident asking whether they wish to withdraw their objection given the above current entitlements or if they wished to engage in mediation with the applicant through the licensing department but no response was received.
The application will be considered at a council licensing committee on Wednesday, April 2.
