Foreword

Rochford District covers an area of 65 square miles within an area bounded by the River Crouch in the north, the A127 Arterial Road in the south, the North Sea in the east and the A130 route in the west.

The area is predominantly rural in character with many smaller towns and villages and two main urban centres at Rochford and Rayleigh. It has a population of approximately 79000 people.

The District offers a wide and developing variety of culture, history, recreation and dwellings with transport infrastructure provided by the mainline railway, to London and Southend, and local bus services.

The District currently has 179 premises for which premise licences and club premise certificates have been issued of which 161 premises are authorised for the sale or supply of alcohol consisting of 42 public houses, 44 off-licences, 19 restaurants, 13 licensed clubs, 8 sporting clubs, 4 function suites, 4 hotels and 27 registered clubs. There are 18 premises authorised for regulated entertainment only consisting of 10 take-away late night refreshment restaurants, 6 community or village halls and 2 educational establishments.

The majority of premises are spread throughout the district with the main concentrations being in Rayleigh and Rochford. There are few premises that provide late-night entertainment of which the main concentration is situated adjacent to the airport's boundary at Aviation Way.

In the more rural areas, public houses, village halls and community centres form focal points for the community and local convenience stores, off-licences, garages and take-away restaurants make an important contribution to local communities by providing outlets to buy food and drink.

The Licensing Act 2003 affects all premises that are used to supply alcohol, to carry on permitted club activities, to provide regulated entertainment or to provide hot food and drink between 2300hrs and 0500hrs. The effect is that potentially a larger number of premises will require licences including itinerant and take-away food businesses that trade after 2300hrs.

The Council will monitor the continuing expansion of the leisure industry, which provides an essential contribution to the local economy in jobs and revenue in the district, in order to maintain a balance between those interests and the interests of preserving the heritage of the area and protecting the interests of residents.

This 'Statement of Licensing Policy' sets out the policies the Council will generally apply to promote the licensing objectives when making decisions on applications. It also sets out information about the application process, what is expected of applicants and how people can make representation about applications. It also sets out the types of controls that are available to the Council when decisions are made about licence applications and explains what action can be taken if complaints are received.

There are specific sections of the 'Statement of Licensing Policy' that deal with each of the four 'licensing objectives'.

The Licensing Act 2003 provides the means for leisure and recreational activity to increase within a more liberal regime of licensing that has, nevertheless, the ability to safeguard local amenity.