AN Alton hotel has been granted permission to extend both its opening hours and the range of entertainment it is able to offer, courtesy of the new licensing laws. Despite objections from local residents, the Alton House Hotel, in Normandy Street, has been given the go ahead, under the Licensing Act 2003, to offer plays, race night films, both indoor and outdoor live music, dance performances, recorded music and discos from 10 am until midnight, seven days a week. And it is to be allowed to extend its existing hours to sell alcohol from 10 am to midnight Monday to Saturday and from 12 noon to 10- 30 pm on Sundays. However, in order to prevent public nuisance, EHDC's licensing sub-committee has placed conditions on the premises licence which will limit outdoor activities to five events per calendar year, if continuing after 6 pm, with a finishing time of 8 pm. And no amplified music is to be played outdoors at any time. Furthermore, no early morning deliveries or removal of waste is to take place prior to 8 am, and no waste, including glass bottles, is to be removed to outdoor areas after 10 pm. All bars are to close 15 minutes prior to the end of the permitted opening hours and all curtains, external doors and windows to the main hall/function area are to be closed after 10 pm. A report, following the licensing hearing on May 19, states that the Hollybourne Hotels applicant David Knights had been in contact with residents in neighbouring York Mews and had agreed amendments to his application in order to try and allay their fears. He had accepted an invitation to attend their AGM, and had agreed to give 21 days written notice to neighbours of any outdoor entertainment events. Furthermore, he had agreed to reduce the number of late outdoor events to five a year, with no amplified music outside, and to ensure that event guests were directed to leave from the rear of the hotel. A fence was to be erected between the hotel and the swimming pool area to help prevent potential noise nuisance late at night. Private events were to be by invitation only to prevent gate crashers, and event literature was to include a request not to park in York Mews. Mr Knights had also stressed that the Alton House had "no plans now, or in the future, to hold raves or encourage binge drinking on its premises". Speaking on behalf of the York Mews residents who had objected to the application, Jason Ganner is reported as stating that one of the big problems in the past had been that complaints from residents had been ignored by the applicants. Residents had been concerned, he said, about the swimming pool being left uncovered, car parking in York Mews, no control or stewardship of the ground, and people in the hotel grounds late at night causing noise and disturbance. He told the sub-committee that at times the situation had been unbearable and, if no controls were put in place in the future, it would "remain unbearable". Neighbouring resident Gary MacDonnell added his concerns over the pool opening at 7 am every day, guests leaving the grounds very late at night, the noise caused by tidying up and by engineers looking at the pool in the early morning and about sexual activity in the garden late at night. Mr Knights said that he hoped they had sorted out the past problems and, while he was unable to guarantee no nuisance to the residents, he would do all he could to alleviate any problems.
