A Nottingham hotel has been granted a licence extension without conditions despite objections from local residents and the police.
St James Hotel, formerly the Rutland Square Hotel, is now able to sell alcohol and provide other licensable activities to the public until 2am. Additional rooms have been licensed and nine pages of conditions and restrictions have been removed from the licence.
The extension applies to the boutique hotel’s existing bar and restaurant No/6 (pictured) as well as two large banqueting and conference rooms and several additional meeting rooms.
The owners secured the licence changes with help from the licensing team at Nottingham solicitors Fraser Brown. Its licensing specialist Walaiti Rathore asked the licensing panel at Nottingham City Council to grant the application without any of the additional conditions or restrictions which were suggested by the residents and police who opposed the application.
Local residents and the police expressed concerns about the application based on previous reports of crime and disorder and public nuisance in the area.
However, the council’s licensing panel accepted there was insufficient evidence specific to the hotel to refuse the application and that the suggested conditions were inappropriate and disproportionate. In those circumstances, the panel saw no lawful reason why they should not grant the application in its entirety.
Walaiti said: “I can understand why local residents would be concerned when an application for later hours is made in their area. However, by the end of this hearing I felt that we allayed the fears of the local residents which was important for the applicant.
“We were able to assure them that if there were ever any problems the hotel would work with them to find a solution.
“We were also able to give examples of several other premises that the applicants have invested in to transform them into high-quality venues which are now benefiting the local community and the city as a whole.
“We were also pleased that despite the concerns raised by the police who asked for 27 conditions, they did not dispute the investment made and the work put in by the applicants to significantly raise the standards at these premises.”
The hotel in St James Street was acquired a year ago by a company controlled by Peter and Michael Johal who also own a Best Western Hotel in Long Eaton, Derbyshire.
