Cricket Club given green light for late night events but can only open until 2am two nights a year

Ealing Cricket Club successfully applied to extend its licensed opening hours despite a large number of objections from neighboring residents. Ealing Council’s sub-licensing committee said the decision was “about balancing the needs of the cricket club and its members and the welfare of residents and children living nearby”.

To that end, the extended hours came with some strict restrictions, including weekend hours only extending to 2:00 a.m. twice a year and weekday hours only extending to 12:00 a.m. two days a month. The original application called for the hours to be extended from 11pm Monday to Sunday to 12am Monday to Thursday and 2am Friday to Sunday.

The reason for the expansion, as club administrator Greg Fitzpatrick explained, was to allow the club to host night events, which would bring in much-needed extra income and give cricketers more time to socialize after matches. He stressed that the club’s bar would not “always stay open for hours”.

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He added that many of the objections, which often focused on concerns about noise and anti-social behaviour, were “based on the worst-case scenario”. To prevent excessive noise, he said the club manager would ensure the outside area would be closed to members after 11pm.

However, as the voice of residents, Jilly Gartside was quick to voice her concerns about the proposed extension. She said of last summer’s events: “The noise was really too much for us to handle because we knew it would be over at midnight. So for it to take place until 2am, I don’t know how that’s ever going to count.”

In the spirit of compromise, Cllr Jon Ball suggested conditions be placed on the times the application is approved. This would mean a limit on the hours that hours could be extended.

Mr Fitzpatrick said the club’s opening hours should only be extended “very rarely” and agreed it would likely need an extension to 2am Friday to Sunday a few times a year and until 12:00 Monday to Thursday several times. one month.

Despite this agreement, Ms Gartside seemed unconvinced saying she still thought the arrangement was too excessive. She cited other written objections linking the club’s current opening hours to anti-social behaviour, including one resident finding someone relieving himself in their garden.

While Police Sergeant Cassar, who had also issued a statement to oppose the extended schedule, also cited concerns about public nuisance, Mateusz Kruk, from the council’s noise team, appeared happy with the proposed compromise.

In the end, the board agreed to the hours with the conditions imposed.

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