The Licensing Hearings of the Isles of Scilly Council were scheduled to convene on 17 July 2025, to discuss an application for a variation of the premises licence for the Mermaid Inn, located in Hugh Town, St Mary's. The application, submitted by Punch Taverns Limited, seeks to extend the Inn's opening hours and amend several conditions of its licence. This has resulted in representations from the Council's Planning Authority, and several 'other persons'.

The main points of discussion were scheduled to be:

Mermaid Inn Licensing Variation

The Council's Licensing Act Sub-Committee, composed of Councillor Euan Rodger, Councillor Mrs Avril Mumford, and Councillor Dan Marcus, were scheduled to consider an application to vary the premises licence of the Mermaid Inn, The Bank, Hugh Town, St Mary's. The applicant, Punch Taverns Limited, is seeking to vary the hours for the sale of alcohol, live music, recorded music and late night refreshment, as well as the premises opening hours.

Specifically, the report pack indicates that Punch Taverns Limited requested the following changes to the Mermaid Inn's operating hours:

The application also includes proposed changes to the conditions at Annex 2 of the premises licence, replacing them with a list of updated conditions relating to general operation, crime and disorder prevention, public safety, and protection of children from harm. These include measures such as:

• Staff training on the Licensing Act and Challenge 25[^1]
• The use of a refusals register
• The maintenance of a complaints log
• CCTV installation and operation
• A management scheme addressing customer arrival, dispersal, regulated entertainment, and smoking
• A zero-tolerance policy towards violent behaviour
• Restrictions on consuming drinks outside the premises after 23:00
• A customer dispersal policy
• An incident register
• An alarm on fire doors
• A policy to prevent serving alcohol to intoxicated individuals
• Noise control measures
• A designated smoking area

• A policy preventing unaccompanied under-18s from entering the premises

  [^1]: Challenge 25 is a retailing strategy that encourages anyone who is over 18 but looks under 25 to carry acceptable ID (such as a driving licence or passport) if they intend to buy alcohol.

The report pack notes that representations were received from the Council's Planning Authority, and from other persons, including Caroline Marlow, Christine Mitchell, Tom Mitchell, Peter Huxley, Sarah Bulmer, and David Bulmer.

The Planning Authority's representation concerned CCTV, noting that planning permission may be required for external CCTV installations, depending on their size and placement.

The representations from the other persons primarily focus on concerns regarding potential nuisance and disturbance. The Licensing Officer noted that Environmental Health did not submit a representation, as The variation was very detailed and covered what I have added and therefore there was no representation required from an Environmental Health perspective.

The report pack also includes extracts from the council's Licensing Act 2003 Policy, and advises the sub-committee to consider Policy numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5, which are relevant to the application. It also notes that Policy 9, regarding Cumulative Impact Policy, should not be relied upon due to a lack of recent review.

The sub-committee were scheduled to consider all evidence and decide whether the application should be granted, with or without conditions and/or amendments, or refused, giving reasons for their decision.

Appendices

The report pack included several appendices:

• Appendix 1: Current Licence
• Appendix 2: Plan of licensed premises
• Appendix 3: Representations
• Supplementary Information, including a 2019 Magistrates Court Consent Order and a 2020 Minor Variation Decision Notice.