The Licensing Sub-Committee of Cumberland Council met on Tuesday 23 September 2025 to consider an application for a variation to a premises licence. The meeting was also scheduled to elect a chair for the meeting and to note any apologies for absence or declarations of interest.

Here's a summary of the topics that were listed for discussion.

Application for Full Variation to Premises Licence - No 27 Conference Centre, Egremont

The sub-committee was scheduled to consider an application for a full variation to the premises licence for No 27 Conference Centre, Egremont, also referenced on social media as The Nashville Bar. The applicant, Emma Ralls, was seeking to amend the current licence to allow the bar to open from 12:00 to 22:00 Monday to Thursday, and to sell alcohol from 12:00 to 23:00 on Sundays. The current licence only permits these activities from Friday to Sunday.

Emma Ralls stated that the reason for the application was:

We have had a lot of businesses asking if we have the facility to open the bar after conferences. Also local funeral directors have asked if we can offer a venue for wakes, which would also need to have the bar available.

The report pack included a copy of the full variation application, a plan of the premises, and the applicant's proposed operating schedule.

Representations

The sub-committee was informed that objections to the application had been received from Environmental Health and from a local resident.

Environmental Health had lodged an objection due to noise complaints and a failure to meet the licensing objective to prevent public nuisance. They stated that they had received four complaints of noise from events held under Temporary Event Notices¹ (TENs) in March and July 2025. The report pack noted that Environmental Health had agreed to several conditions with Emma Ralls during the consultation for the initial new premise application granted on 25th April 2025, including that:

• No noise generated on the premises should cause a nuisance.
• All windows and external doors should be kept closed whilst regulated entertainment is taking place.
• Notices should be prominently displayed at all exits requesting patrons to respect the needs of residents and businesses and to leave the area quietly.
• No live or recorded music should be played outdoors.

The report pack stated that Environmental Health had not requested additional conditions, but had concerns that the previously agreed conditions were not being complied with.

A representation was also received from a local resident, who objected to the application to extend the hours of opening. The resident claimed that the owner had been breaking the existing licence conditions, and that the premises was slowly becoming to be run like a public house! The public objection also stated that the owner's husband was telling people that he did not care about what the council said or did.

Cumbria Constabulary

Cumbria Constabulary initially responded to the application with no objections, subject to agreement of a revision of an existing condition.

Police Sergeant David Macdonald had reminded Emma Ralls that the venue should be for presold ticket events, after an unannounced visit on 18 July by a licensing officer from Cumberland Council found that people were being allowed in by payment on the door.

To avoid any misinterpretation of the condition, David Macdonald suggested the following condition:

There will be no 'open door' operation of the premises. Any and all sales of alcohol at the premises will be part of a ticketed or 'invite only' event. These tickets should be presold for the event and no 'on the door' sales should take place. A list of full name of each attendee shall be kept {first name and family name}. The premise will never function as a public house open to anyone walking in off the street. Admission to any event shall be through the approved entrances. The entrances shall be manned by staff who shall allow only persons with tickets or appropriate invite into the premises.

Emma Ralls agreed to this change.

Licensing Objectives and Options

The sub-committee was reminded that the Licensing Act 2003 has four licensing objectives:

• The prevention of crime and disorder
• Public safety
• The prevention of public nuisance
• The protection of children from harm

The sub-committee was advised that it had several options available to it, including granting the variation as applied for, granting the variation with modified conditions, modifying the hours of licensable activity, or rejecting the whole or part of the application.