Another Midlands Council considers removal of its Cumulative Impact area

Melton Borough Council is consulting on removing its Cumulative Impact Policy areas as part of a review of its Statement of Licensing Policy, which is due to be updated later this year

The Cumulative Impact zone (which effectively places tougher restrictions on applications for new licences or material variations) has been deemed no longer suitable, with the draft policy citing the rapidly changing hospitality sector and that many argue that rather than improving an area, such restrictive policies can lead to a lack of choice for customers and add additional barriers to entry and extra bureaucracy for new businesses looking to establish within the area.

Given the pandemic, lockdowns and large parts of the hospitality sector effectively shutting down for a considerable time, many local authorities across the country no longer have sufficient evidence to support cumulative impact policies, and consequently have removed or reduced them significantly.

Within the midlands, Nottingham, Leicester, and Birmingham are clear examples of this – all of which have removed their Cumulative Impact Policy areas.

The consultation on Melton Borough Council’s Licensing Policy ends on 26th September 2022.

The new draft licensing policy and further details can be found here: www.melton.gov.uk.

For more information contact Suraj Desor at 0115 9349 183 or 07880 382 193