Police and licensing officials fear that a theatre venue could in effect turn into a night club after it applied for a later licence.
Madeira Leisure Limited owns Dalton’s, in Madeira Drive, Brighton, and wants to sell alcohol until 3am on a Saturday and Sunday morning and until 12.30am the rest of the week.
The company, owned by Jayne and Jeffrey Sanders, also wants to be allowed to sell takeaway drinks until midnight daily.
A report to a Brighton and Hove City Council licensing panel said that a condition on the premises licence when it was known as Electric Arcade required it to be a theatre-led arts venue.
And those conditions required an average of at least 14 performance-related events every seven days, with DJ-led performances banned.
Madeira Drive is in the busy centre of Brighton where council policy makes it harder to open new licenced venues.
This was why Electric Arcade had strict conditions imposed on its alcohol licence when it was granted in November 2020.
Madeira Leisure said in its application that at least one licensed door supervisor would be on duty at the venue below the zip wire on Fridays and Saturdays from 7pm until it closed.
The operator also pledged to deploy security staff to patrol the terrace which can hold 250 people, with a suggestion that only 100 people would be allowed out there after midnight.
A floor plan for the venue shows that one of the two theatre-style spaces was no longer a public area.
And a wall has been removed from one side of the larger theatre space and also from an open performance area near the bar.
Inspector Daniel Eagle, from Sussex Police, said that the previous licence restricted standing and drinking to ticketed public events only.
The force wants to all the existing licence conditions to remain if the panel – made up of three councillors – decides to grant the later hours at a hearing on Wednesday 18 December.
In addition, the police want post-midnight trading restricted to when live music is being performed – not DJ sets.
Inspector Eagle said: “The application form has failed to include the conditions … which specify this premises will operate as a theatre-led arts venue.
“Therefore, Sussex Police fear this will allow this premises to operate as an additional night club on the beach.”
Inspector Eagle said that the force would expect ID scanners to be used and more details about the operation if the business wanted to trade until 3am.
He was also concerned that if off-sales were permitted then alcohol would be taken on to the beach.
In the past year, Inspector Eagle said that there had been more than 200 incidents, mostly thefts and violent crimes, linked to Madeira Drive and the surrounding area.
The council’s licensing team has also objected to the application because it no would longer include the theatre-led elements that made the previous licence “exceptional” under the council’s licensing policy.
Licensing officer Emily Fountain said: “The application, while seeking an increase to licensable activities, has not offered any additional conditions to mitigate the increased risks.
“In fact, it seeks to remove some existing conditions that were put on the licence by a licensing panel in November 2022 albeit under a different operator that were considered necessary.”
The hearing is due to start at 10am on Wednesday 18 December. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
To “petrol” the terrace that holds 250 people would be a very bad idea.. 😬
Thanks Hannah. That was my typo – now corrected.
This application should be granted immediately as there are so few establishments selling alcohol along the seafront that we desperately need more.
How can this even be used as a theatre and drinks venue? I just checked with the BHCC website, and they don’t have planning permission for this use. So, how are Jeffrey and Jayne Sanders allowed to operate this business?
Not sure why they’d even want to operate as a nightclub to be honest. Not as if the ones we have left are booming. They’re dying out all over the country and Brighton is no exception.
We all know it’s illegal to go out at night. Why the banks allow commerce at all after 9pm baffles me. The notion that the people who congregate here might wish to engage in “club” activities during God’s cherished hours should send fear right to the core of any patriot