Green Tees wants to open bar until 3am at weekends (From Echo)
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Green Tees wants to open bar until 3am at weekends
9:10am Tuesday 3rd August 2010 in
AN indoor golf club wants to become the latest late-night drinking venue in Billericay.
Green Tees, which opened close to the police station on Billericay High Street last December, has applied to Basildon Council to open until 2am during the week and until 3am at weekends.
The training centre has three indoor golf bays and a licensed sports bar, with a dance floor, which opens until midnight.
But Darren Mason, who lives nearby, is not happy about the venue’s plans.
He said: “I’m a local resident and I have been complaining to Basildon Council about the noise levels already coming from Green Tees.
“It has music nights going on at the weekend and it attracts a really young crowd and is so noisy.”
Green Tees has applied to the council’s licensing committee for permission to open until 2am, from Monday to Thursday, and until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.
David Dadds, councillor for the Billericay east ward, is planning to write a letter objecting to the plans.
He said: “Residents have told me, to all intents and purposes, it’s a bar, not a golf centre.
“They say people hang around outside the venue on the street.
“Now it sounds like it wants to turn it into a nightclub.”
The bar is open to the public, but is also available for private hire.
Phil Turner, councillor for the Billericay ward, is also concerned by the application.
He said: “I’ve got some serious reservations about where the High Street is going.
“We’re getting premises setting up here, which are not necessarily catering for the needs of residents, and they are bringing in problems from outside the town.
“We don’t want to be in the position where we are having to clean up after others who come down to the town for an evening.”
Green Tees said it did not want to comment before the application had been considered by the council.
Comments(3)
jusgreen
says...
2:13pm Wed 4 Aug 10
The actual application is for an extension of 2 hours (till 02:00) on Friday and Saturday nights only and not the entire week as previously reported.
The 3am provision of refreshments (none alcoholic beverages) application is being applied for to cover international sporting events such as boxing and again is only for Friday and Saturday Nights.
The centre has provided entertainment for both the public and private functions and has been operating under TEN’s (Temporary Events Notices) for a number of events which went on past 12 midnight.
There have been a few instances of noise nuisance that we have been aware of, and with Environmental health and local residents solutions to these nuisances have been put in place.
The centre has fitted all rear facing windows (the direction of the centres only local residents) with acoustic window baffles and introduced sound deadening curtaining to further reduce the noise emanating from the centre.
The rear car park is also a potential source of noise so the management have banned its use after 8pm for everyone except a few select members of staff.
The centre takes local residents complaints and feelings very seriously and is committed to ensuring they are not inconvenienced.
The centre has hosted golfing stag parties, private birthday and leaving functions and is used regularly by organisations such as Round Table and the 41 clubs of Billericay, Brentwood and Basildon.
Friday and Saturday evenings are popular social gathering times and Green Tees wishes to provide the people of Billericay with an alternative to the existing bars and pubs the high street currently has to offer, although golf is very much on the menu.
The centre has an excellent track record when compared to other venues in the high street and surrounding areas, with strict policies on outside drinking, challenge 25, and SIA licensed door supervisors, Green Tees is actually a safer place to drink and have fun than probably anywhere else in the surround areas and being situated next door to a police station is definitely a bonus.
So why the fuss ? is providing late night entertainment in a safe and controlled way for the residents of Billericay so wrong ? Doesn’t Billericay deserve to have something little different and special ?, and as for “cleaning up after others who come down to the town for an evening” correct me if I’m wrong but Billericay’s high street economy is already focused on getting people in to the town to eat and drink and have a good time,
stropmag
says...
7:13pm Wed 11 Aug 10
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Ironman says...
1:06pm Tue 3 Aug 10
Correct me if I'm wrong, but do these type of businesses not require planning permission in the first place?.
To say that you have 'reservations about where the High Street is going' sounds a bit like the 'stable doors & horses' scenario again.