DESPITE concerns from the town council that extending a Falmouth pub’s opening times to 2.30am on Thursday to Saturdays would exacerbate antisocial behaviour in the area, a licensing meeting heard that it is “not a problem pub” and is managed responsibly.

The Craft Union Pub Company, which runs The Grapes Inn on Falmouth’s Church Street, applied to Cornwall Council to change the time it stops selling alcohol from 1am to 2am on Thursdays to Saturdays, with live and recorded music increased to the same time and opening hours extended on those days from 1.30am to 2.30am.

None of the responsible authorities such as Devon and Cornwall Police opposed the changes. However, Falmouth Town Council did, fearing it would lead to increased noise and bad behaviour in the centre of Falmouth. The matter was brought before a Cornwall Council licensing committee yesterday (Wednesday, April 2).

Falmouth town councillor Debra Clegg said her council’s planning and licensing committee refused the application purely because the pub is located in a Cumulative Impact Zone – an area where the local authority has decided there are serious issues of crime, nuisance and disorder due to the high number of licensed premises.

“We are aware that there are other premises with later hours, but we take each application on its own as presented,” she told the meeting. “An increase in hours in our view would have a negative effect on the area – antisocial behaviour, on the residents. We were given no particular evidence, we were purely making that decision on the CIZ. It’s our backstop that we’ve been asked to consider, so we do.”

Licensing committee member Cllr Robin Moorcroft asked if there was any basis that there would be an escalation of antisocial behaviour and if the town council had received complaints from residents.

“We do get complaints and that particular area of the town has times when there’s a lot of antisocial behaviour, the police have to be called and various crimes are committed, but I couldn’t say which premises those people have come from,” added Cllr Clegg.

Alex Green, a solicitor representing the Craft Union Pub Company, pointed out that just last week the business won the Community Operator of the Year at the national Publican Awards in London.

He said: “The Grapes is an integral community-led local on the very busy, commercial Church Street, which is run by Melissa (Mellor), who has been there for 20 months since Craft took it over. She’s a very experienced operator of pubs and has a great relationship with the customers, the neighbours and the authorities. It’s a very well-run operation with no issues or complaints.

“She’s an active member of Pubwatch and regularly liaises with police licensing team. This is not a problem pub at all. The clientèle tends to be a nice mix of locals, students and tourists when they are around.”

Mr Green told the meeting there’s just one house nearby which is occupied by students, who happen to be customers of the pub.

He added that “Mangos bar is virtually opposite, which I think is licensed to about 3am, there’s a club opposite which is licensed to 3am, the pub down the road – The Kings – I think is 2.30am, as well as other late night bars and takeaways all in the vicinity. If this application was granted the premises would still be closing before numerous other venues in the area”.

The committee heard that a number of conditions were agreed with the police prior to the application, such as comprehensive CCTV, door staff, incidents log, monitoring outside areas and notices asking customers to leave quietly.

Speaking about the representation to refuse from Falmouth Town Council, he said the committee should consider that against the backdrop of no opposition from any of the responsible authorities or any residents. He said the town council’s correspondence didn’t include any details of any specific incidents or concerns about the Grapes.

Mr Green said the town council’s reasons for wanting the licence changes refused was purely down to the pub being in a Cumulative Impact Zone but he pointed out, as the committee had already heard, that there are numerous establishments in the area with opening hours later than the Grapes. He said allowing the pub to let its customers leave an hour later was unlikely to have any negative impact whatsoever in the area.

After discussion in private, the committee agreed to grant the licence extension with robust conditions. Members noted the pub was located within the CIZ area but as there were no representations against the application by the responsible authorities, such as the police and environmental health, and there was no evidence to substantiate Falmouth Town Council’s concerns, they did not believe there would be a negative impact by allowing the 2am licence.