A busy pub on the Somerset Levels can serve alcohol outdoors during its popular ‘bike nights’ after a new licence was granted.
The Lime Kiln Inn lies on the A372 between Langport and the Podimore roundabout on the A303, just outside the small village of Long Sutton.
Landlord Jason Schinkel applied to alter his existing licence to create an outdoor bar in addition to the main premises, allowing him to serve patrons at a series of outdoor events – including ‘bike nights’ in the spring and summer, which attract dozens of motorcycle enthusiasts.
Numerous local residents objected to the proposals, arguing that the noise from the motorcycles would ruin their quality of life and lead to traffic problems on the main road.
But Somerset Council took a different view on Wednesday morning (February 19) when its licensing sub-committee south voted to grant Mr Schinkel a new licence at a meeting held in Shepton Mallet.
Under the terms of the new licence, Mr Schinkel can serve alcohol via an outdoor bar within a designated area to the east of the pub, known as the Paddocks.
Alcohol will be able to be served at the outdoor bar during the same licensed hours as the main pub – between 11am and midnight from Monday to Saturday, and from 12pm to 11:30pm on Sunday.
Mr Schinkel indicated that this outdoor area would not be used every day, but would instead be employed on an occasional basis – including certain Fridays and Saturdays between April and October when weddings were held.
The area will also be used for its ‘bike nights’, which are held on Tuesday evenings from 6pm to 9pm in the spring and summer, and have in the past attracted around 160 attendees for food, drink and live music.
Mr Schinkel told the sub-committee: “I myself am not mad about motorbikes or classic cars, but in the area there are a lot of people who are very keen on these things.
“I was approached by a group who said they would like to have a motorbike evening once a week or fortnight – they are pleasant enough people and I said: ‘yes, that sounds good’.
“I think pubs in general are looking for ways to make more income nowadays as things have become tougher and tougher, as we’re all aware.
“The bikers themselves are generally middle-aged, nice, sensible people.
“When we’ve run these events, the bar area would be completely congested, so we decided to set up a little bar on the lawn and serve alcohol from out there. At the same time, we started doing burgers out there.
“These eventually generally are over by 8pm or 9pm.”
Mr Schinkel said he had been unaware that he would need to change his licence to do this, and sought to rectify the situation as soon as the council’s licensing team contacted him.
Numerous local residents objected to the plans before the sub-committee meeting – though their names were not made public as part of the agenda documents.
One resident, who lives in the neighbouring hamlet of Knole, said: “I personally found the noisy bike nights very stressful.
“The Lime Kiln is already a thriving countryside pub serving food. You can already buy food and drink from the bar and eat it outside when the weather is nice.
“Serving drinks outside during licensing hours up to 11pm will carry with it noise from motorbikes and potentially loud music, which will impact on our lives as it did in the summer.
“During the summer, the Lime Kiln ran weekly motorbike evenings. We had cause to complain to the owner almost on a weekly basis.
“On one occasion I telephoned the Lime Kiln and contacted the police, because the motorbikes seemed to be spending more time racing up and down the A372 than drinking in the pub or garden.
“I really cannot stress strongly enough how unbearable this will be for us and many of the residents who live in Knole once established.”
Another Knole resident added: “An outside bar that can play live or recorded music from 8am to 11pm, with the possibility of up to 500 people, would be totally unacceptable considering where the pub is – in the middle of the countryside very near to a peaceful village.
“The dates suggested are April to October – just the time when people will want to be enjoying their gardens, which may now be blighted by noise, disturbance and possibly light pollution.
“In my opinion, this would be totally unacceptable and impact negatively on many dwellings.”
Avon and Somerset Constabulary had not formally objected to the proposed changes, agreeing a series of licence conditions with Mr Schinkel in advance – including CCTV being in operation and the landlord running a ‘Challenge 25’ policy to prevent under-age drinking.
Following a short debate in confidential session, the sub-committee voted to grant the new licence.
Councillor Simon Carswell (who chaired the meeting) said: “We would suggest that the complainants are advised that they do have a right to ask for this licence to be reviewed, if the nuisance is particularly bad going forward.
“However, we can’t really make a decision based upon what might happen in the future.”