Business

Licensing

Objections

The Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 sets out the grounds for objections as

• that the person or applicant is not a fit and proper person
• that the premises are not suitable given their location, character, condition,
• the nature or use of the premises, and the persons likely to be using the premises
• that the use of the premises is likely to cause undue public nuisance, or threat to
• public order or safety
• that the grant of the licence would result in an over-provision of such facilities
  

Objections may be competently made by persons ‘owning or occupying’ property in the neighborhood of the premises; an organisation representing such persons; community council for the area; churches representing persons who reside in the area; chief constable; firemaster or the local authority. Any objections should clearly indicate the applicant and premises and be served on the applicant within the seven day period. In addition the chief constable is allowed to make formal observations to which the board ‘shall have regard’.

All objections to Liquor Licensing Applications must be lodged with the Clerk at least 7 days prior to the Board Meeting. An exact copy of the objection must be served on the applicant. Ideally this should be done by recorded delivery to his proper address or his agent’s address, whichever address is advertised in the newspaper or notice that should be displayed at the proposed premises. Please note it is essential that an exact copy of the letter served on the Clerk is served on the applicant. If the objection is not served by recorded delivery and is hand delivered, it is recommended that 2 people deliver the objection, since the objection must be proved or admitted to have been served before an objection may be taken into account by the Board.

All letters of objection must state the reasons for that objection. It is insufficient simply to restate the section of the Act i.e. it would not be sufficient to say you object to the application on grounds of "over provision". The objection should state the number of Licensed premises within a particular area and if necessary list the same. In general terms, the more information contained in an objection, the better.

In terms of the submission of objections to applications, the Act clearly defines who may be determined as a competent objector. These are:-

(a) any person owning or occupying property situated in the neighbourhood of the premises to which the application relates or any organisation which in the opinion of the Board represents such persons;

(b) a Community Council for the area in which the premises are situated;

(c) any organised Church which, in the opinion of the Licensing Board, represents a significant body of opinion among persons residing in the neighbourhood of the premises;

(d) the Chief Constable;

(e) the Fire Authority for the area in which the premises are situated, and

(f) a local authority for the area in which the premises are situated.

The reasons for the refusal of an application for grant/renewal of a licence are again laid down in the Act as follows:-

(a) that the applicant or the person on whose behalf or for whose benefit the application will manage the premises or an employee named in the application is not a fit and proper person to be the holder of the licence;

(b) that the premises to which the application relates are not suitable or convenient for the sale of alcoholic liquor having regard to their location, character and condition, nature and extent of the proposed use of the premises and the persons likely to resort to the premises;

(c) that the use of the premises for the sale of alcoholic liquor is likely to cause undue public nuisance or a threat to public order and safety, and/or

(d) that the grant of the application would result in the over provision of licensed premises in the locality.