Public outcry over licence proposal

A football club has defended a controversial proposal to sell alcohol in the face of public uproar.
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Derbyshire Dales District Council received scores of letters from concerned members of the public after Bakewell Town Football Club applied for a licence for Bakewell Sports Pavilion, at the Recreation Ground, in Haddon Road.

Objections to the application have been made on the grounds that the licence may cause increased vandalism and littering, as well as noise and disturbance.

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In a letter to the council, Valerie Derbyshire, of The Park, Bakewell, said that the potential for increased anti–social behaviour and under–age drinking that the licence could cause would lead to a need for more police in the area and increased costs.

Another letter, from Robert and Margaret Haynes, of Granby Croft, Bakewell, said: “Access to the Recreation Ground is via relatively quiet streets at the moment and there is concern over increased late night noise, litter and vandalism.”

Bakewell Town Football Club is proposing that it sells alcohol between 5.30pm and 10pm Monday to Friday, and between noon and 10pm Saturday and Sunday.

Nick Rosling, club secretary, said he thought residents had misinterpreted the application.

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“The application is so that whenever we have a game we can be open for members to have a drink,” he explained.

“I think some people have misinterpreted us as being open seven days a week.”

Nick said the plan was that the club would only serve alcohol on days when there was a match. “We found that people weren’t going back to our pub in the town and it was dying a death, so we just really want to raise the social side,” he said. Nick added that the club has been liaising with the Peak District National Park Authority and agreed that any scheduled match would be advertised seven days in advance to alert residents to the fact that the club would be serving alcohol on those days. He said the bar would only be open to club members and visiting players, who would have to sign in to use it.

Derbyshire Dales District Council’s licensing and appeals sub committee will discuss the application at a meeting on at Matlock Town Hall on Tuesday, October 29, at 10.30am.