BOTH Alton Town Council and Alton Initiatives Management (AIM) Ltd fell foul last weekend of new licensing laws. "Live in the Square" was called off late on Thursday and the Liss Band was unable to play in the Public Gardens when it was discovered that they would have been doing so illegally. While rain might well have stopped play, the problem was that neither event was covered by a Temporary Events Licence. But while both organisations have held up their hands to the error, Alton Initiatives Manager Vernon Pearce remains uncertain whether the events in question needed a licence in the first place, since they were both non-profit making. According to town clerk Steve Parkinson, the new legislation surrounding event licensing is extremely complex and easy to misinterpret - the council does not need a licence, for example, to hold its Christmas celebration in the Market Square because it comes under the heading of a religious event. Nor do you need a licence to play music for Morris dancing or for on-street entertainment such as fire eating, but you do need a licence if you intend selling alcohol or if you are providing late night or "regulated" entertainment that involves playing music to a public audience. Mr Pearce argues that this is not necessarily the case for charitable events where there is no private gain and that AIM and the town council could fall into that category. Their events are staged for the benefit of the community and are also non-profit making. East Hampshire District Council's principal licensing officer Angela Howes believes the weekend's experience has come as a timely reminder to other event organisers to make sure they have the necessary licence in place. The Licensing Act 2003 introduced what has been described as "a light touch" system for ad hoc, permitted temporary activities. A Temporary Events Notice (TEN) can authorise a relatively small-scale event lasting for no more than 96 hours. "A TEN only costs £21 and requires 10 days' notice," said Angela Howes, who explained that the idea was to reduce the level of bureaucracy surrounding the previous licensing arrangement which involved lengthy consultation. Under the new system the only consultees are the police and they only require 48 hours notice. However, TENs are restricted with individuals only being able to apply for five events at a certain location and the location itself being restricted to 12 events a year. In the case of both AIM and Alton Town Council Ms Howes believes it would be beneficial to both to apply for a Permanent Entertainment Licence.
