A nightclub has been given permission to open until 6am at weekends after police confirmed there had been “no evidence of persistent issues”.
Neighbours and nearby businesses objected to a licence bid for Fusion in Margate, claiming there has been loud music and aggressive punters at the venue.
The club has been operating on temporary event notices (TENs) – essentially one-off licences – since opening but has now been awarded a full-time licence by Thanet District Council (TDC) at the second attempt.
Officials raised concerns about fire safety, saying there were not enough exit routes from the building, and capacity numbers for the venue when the application was first discussed on May 29.
Residents and neighbouring businesses also slated the bid, saying there had been excessive noise and anti-social behaviour coming from the Cliff Terrace establishment.
However, the bid for late hours came before the subcommittee again this week (August 13).
The club’s owners applied for a full licence allowing them to open until 3am Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, until 6am Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and until 2am on Sundays.
Papers ahead of this week’s meeting say club owner Wayne Johnson agreed a maximum capacity of 100 with Kent Fire and Rescue Service.
At this week’s meeting, licensing consultant Jeremy Denning said: “In the intervening period we’ve done everything that the fire brigade wanted us to do with the club, and put sound limiters on the equipment which has all been accepted by environmental health.
“So we feel we’ve done everything we need to do to get the licence granted.”
TDC’s own documents say 20 objections were sent in ahead of the most recent meeting, but most of these were rejected for consideration as they went over matters discussed at the previous meeting.
A police representative told the subcommittee “Fusion Nightclub have operated under a TENs notice from May to July, during which only two police reports were made, neither met the threshold for criminal offences and were recorded for intelligence purposes only.
“Police are satisfied that no reported criminal offences occurred during the period they have been operating.
“Additional concerns raised by Bar Nothing have been reviewed and do not warrant further licensing action.
“There is no evidence of persistent or serious issues.”
The first meeting heard there had been 35 opponents to the application.
Aldene Johnson, owner of Bar Nothing, located directly above Fusion, told the committee at the May hearing: “As a resident, as a mother of two young children and the owner of a business, I’m deeply concerned about my future and my mental health.
“I had to close my business on the first weekend they were open, on both the Friday and the Saturday evening, because it was impossible to stay open with the noise coming through from the basement.
“My customers have complained, my DJs have packed up and left, and my Tarot reader that I have on Thursday evenings has had to cancel any readings for any of my customers.”
Resident Julian Moore told the committee that “you can hear Mr Johnson’s thumping music coming up through the floorboards” in every area of Bar Nothing.
“It’s a nice neighbourhood but it’s about to be turned into a very different neighbourhood.”
During a short deliberation on Wednesday, TDC’s subcommittee agreed to approve the application.
