Hotel granted 24-hour alcohol licence by councillors

A hotel has been granted a 24-hour licence to sell alcohol after councillors helped find a compromise with nearby residents.

Fawsley Hall was bidding to extend the hours it could sell alcoholic drinks to its hotel guests from between 11am and 11pm to 24 hours a day.

Seven residents had objected to the scheme unless conditions were met, and councillors on Daventry District Council’s licensing committee agreed to those conditions this morning (August 7).

It means that no outdoor event which includes a marquee, or any similar event will take place at Fawsley Hall without prior notification being given to neighbours.

Residents will also be given contact details for the hotel switchboard and the manager’s landline and mobile telephone number should any problems arise. Outdoor events will finish at 11pm unless a temporary events notice has been approved.

Liz Southorn, of Harris Hagan Solicitors, which was representing the hotel, said: “There has not been a single objection from the relevant authorities and residents have been kind enough to say that the relationship has been much improved under the new manager.”

The hotel’s general manager Mark Clayton told the committee that he had received two noise complaints in his five years at the hotel.

Robin Baker, a local resident, said: “I think the residents do want to support the hotel as much as we can, but our concern is one of noise.

“We want to make sure we come to a conclusion with the hotel. I think all the objections will fall away if the conditions are attached, because these conditions meet all our concerns. I’d be willing to withdraw my objection if these conditions are included in the licence.”

Committee chair Councillor Mike Warren granted the application, and considered that the conditions attached ‘were robust’.